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CONVERSATIONS 

I 



ON 



RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS, 



A FATHER AND HIS TWO SONS. 



{f. M^^JANNEi'. 



PUBLISHED BY 

FRIENDS' BOOK ASSOCIATION, 

No. 706 Akch Street, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



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2 






*;v 



At t meeting of the RepresenUtWe Committee, of 
•• Meeting for Sufferiogs/' held 5ih month 17th, 1860: 

After deliberate consideration of the sjbjoct, th« 
Pook Committee wtis authorized to purcbaAw ibree 
buadred oopiee of ••Cohvebbatioiis oa *;tuuion 
?ri*JWJTs," by Sam'l M. Jajiiiit. 

ExUnicted from the minutes. 



PREFACE. 



The following Essays are offered to the pub- 
lic with a hope that they may receive a candid 
perusal from inquiring minds, and that they 
may, under the Divine blessing, lead some to 
examine with attention the important doctrines 
of which they treat, and to build their houses, 
not upon the sandy foundation of traditional 
belief, but upon the rock of immediate revela- 
tion ; for on this rock only, the true church of 
Christ has ever been established. 

The colloquial style has been chosen, in order 
to render the work more interesting to the 
young ; and as affording a better opportunity 
of stating the objections that are generally ad- 
vanced against the views here advocated. 

(V) 



VI P R E r A C E . 

The Author has endeavoured to state fairly 
the arguments of those who differ from him in 
opinion, and especially to bring into view those 
pai^sages of scripture on which they have must 
relied ; for he believes that these sacred records 
are, under Divine influence, of inestimable value 
in givin<r us a knowledge of Christian doctrines. 
It is, however, the principal aim of this work, 
to rhow that the kingdom of Christ is a spiritual 
kingdom : and that wherever it is established in 
the heart, it ascribes "glory to God in the high- 
est," and promotes ** peace on earth, and go:d 
will to men/' 

Occo^jiAN, Va., id mo. J4, lb3o. 



PREFACE 



THE FOURTH EDITION. 



The third edition of " Oonversations -^j Reli- 
gious Subjects/' published by the 'ate John 
Comly, being exhausted, it has been deemed 
advisable to issue a fourth edition, as the demand 
for them still continues. A few notes have been 
added by the author, to elucidate some passages 
not sufficiently clear in the early editions. 

S. M. Janney. 

Near Iurcklyille. Loudoun Co., Va., 
6th mo. IS, 18G0. 



(vii) 



CONTENTS. 



CONVERSATION I. 
On Ilepentance and Conversion Page 9 

CONVERSATION II. 
On Divine Worship 4.1 

CONVERSATION III. 

On the Original and Present State of Man 79 

CONVERSATION IV. 
On the Divine Being Ill 

CONVERSATION V. 
On Salvation by Christ 155 

CONVERSATION VI. 

On Baptism and the Lord's Supper . 19J 

( viii ) 



CONYERSATIONS, Etc. 



CONVEESATION I. 



ON REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 

James. I feel desirous of information respect- 
ing some of the principal doctrines of Christiani- 
ty ; — for the great variety of opinions prevailing 
among the professors of religion, and the bitter- 
ness which some of them appear to feel towards 
others, have had a tendency to weaken my faith, 
and I have no doubt they have produced dis- 
couragement in the minds of many others. 

Father. It must be acknowledged that a great 
diversity of opinion does exist upon many points 
of doctrine ; but this should not weaken our 
faith in the reality of vital religion; for a great 
variety of opinions may be found among men in 
most departments of knowledge. The greatest 
philosophers have often been mistaken by founds 

(9) 



10 ON REPENTANCE 

ing their systems upon speculations and con- 
jectures, instead of watching the operations of 
Nature, and reasoning from facts. And it is in 
this way that many professors of religion con- 
tinue to err, by attaching too much importance 
to the conjectures they have formed about reli- 
gion, and by attending too little to the operation 
of the Spirit of Truth in their own minds ; by 
obedience to which they might become experi- 
mentally acquainted with vital religion, and 
'^ renewed in knowledge after the image of Him 
that created them." NotwithsUnding the great 
variety of doctrines among the professors of 
v'hristianity, I could easily prove to you from 
pious and experienced writers of every sect that 
I am acquainted with, that they all agree in re- 
garding true religion as a work of the heart 
rather than of the head ; and the experience of 
all ages proves that '' the grace of God ichich 
hrSngeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
teaching us that denying uugodlinei>s and worldly 
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
godly in this present world." The operation of 
this Divine Power, when it is submitted to, brings 
about in our minds the great change, which be- 
gins with repentance for our past sins, and endf 
•in conversion or regeneration. 



AND CONVERSION. 11 

John These are subjects on which I wish for 
information, for X have lately thought much 
about them, and I trust my heart has been in 
some measure weaned from the world, and en- 
gaged in the pursuit of that inheritance, incor- 
ruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away. 

Father. I am rejoiced to hear that the Lord 
has been so gracious to thee, my son, and that 
he is calling thee out of darkness into his mar- 
vellous light. He has, I trust, granted thee 
"repentance unto life,'' which is the first step 
in the path of righteousness. Like the passage 
of the children of Israel through the lied Sea, 
the baptism of repentance separates us from the 
land of Egypt, saves us from a host of our ene~ 
mies, and fills the soul with joy, so that we can 
sing the song of Moses, and '^ make melody in 
our hearts unto the Lord.'' But the Israelites, 
after their first deliverance and rejoicing, had a 
great many trials to encounter, and a long jour- 
ney to perform through the wilderness, until 
that crooked and perverse generation which was 
horn in Egypt, was wasted away or consumed ; 
and then there was a captain raised up in the 
mids'^ of them, who led the new generation 
through Jordan (the river of judgment) into 
the promised land. The work of repentance 



12 ON REPENT. .NCE 

was also typified by the watery baptism of Jobn ; 
but true saving baptism is " not the putting away 
of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of » 
good conscience towards God." 1 Peter m. 21. 
And this saving baptism is administered by the 
Holy Spirit, which comes into the heart, and 
purifies or " sprinkles it from an evil conscience. 
Repentance is the gift of God,^nd it is offered 
to the acceptance of all men ; for all are visited 
with seasons of calm reflection and senous 
thoughtfulness, when their sins are " set in order 
before them," and all the plea..ures of sense and 
the riches of this world seem "as nothing and 
vanity," compared with that peace of mind which 
they have lost while pursuing after shadows. 
This state of mind is sometimes expenernsed by 
those who are the most eager in pursuit of plea- 
sure and worldly glory; but they too generally 
put it fnm them, and fly to amusementa or busi- 
. ness to drive t away. Yet this very thing which 
is 80 much shunned, is nothing less than a visi- 
tation of Divine Love, which, if yielded to. would 
lead to eternal salvation. It is indeed the voice 
of Christ, who says, "Behold, I stand at the 
door and knock ; if any man hear my voice, and 
open the door, [ will come in to him, and will 
sup with him, and he with me." Rev. lu. 20. 



AND CONVERSION 13 

Those who yield obedience to this heaven*y 
Tision, not consulting with flesh and blood, will 
experience the baptism of repentance to take 
place in their souls, for ^' godly sorrow worketh 
repentance to salvation -/' and the only sure evi- 
dence of sincere repentance, is bringing forth 
fruits ^' meet for repentance/^ 

James. Does not repentance often take place 
without any fruits ? It appears to me that I 
have been sinning and repenting for many years, 
without much, if any amendment. 

Father. There is a spurious kind of repent- 
ance that scarcely deserves the name ; — it does 
not proceed from a true sense and hatred of sin y 
but from a dread of punishmejitj which induces 
men very often to feel a transient regret for what 
they have done, and to take up resolutions to do 
better in future ; but these resolutions, when 
made in man's own strength, and with a reliance 
upon his oivn arm for their execution, will not 
stand in the hour of temptation ; the first gust 
of passion will blow them away. True repent- 
ance implies not only a godly sorrow for sin, but 
a turning away from it. It implies a returning 
again to Him from whom the soul has revolted. 
*^ Repent,'^ says the prophet, ^^ and turn your- 
2 



I 4 O X R V. P EN T A N C E 

reives from all your transgressions : so iniquity 
ghall not be your ruin/' Ezekiel xix. 36. 

John. I have no doubt that true repentance 
IS a work of the Divine Spirit in the soul, and 
that it is accompanied by forgiveness of sins 
through the mercy of God. But I have been 
led to believe that the joy and peace which I 
have found springing up and abounding in my 
heart, was an evidence not only of forgiveness, 
but of conversion and regeneration. 

Fatlirr. The term conversion is often used as 
equivalent to regeneration, and then it signifies 
a change of heart from a state of sin to a state 
of holiness, — a putting off the old man with his 
decdsj and putting on the new man, which is 
renewed in knowledge ^^ a/ier the image of Him 
that created him.'* It was used in this sense by 
Jesus himself when speaking to Peter, just be- 
fore he was delivered up : " Simon,*' said he, 
*< Satan hath desired to have you, that he may 
sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee, 
that thy faith fail not ; and when thou art con- 
verfcd, strengthen thy brethren." Luke xxii. 
31, 32. 

Joh7}. It appears from this passage, that Peter 
hnd not yet been converted ; and it beconies an 
interesting inquiry for us all to know what was 



AND CONVERSION. 15 

then the state of his experience, and how far a 
man may progress in religion without being 
thoroughly converted. 

Father. Yes, it is a very interesting subject 
for inquiry, — and there are a number of passages 
in the New Testament that will throw some light 
upon it. It appears that Peter, long before this, 
had forsaken all, in order to follow Christ. He 
had been one of his disciples nearly three years. 
He had listened to his preaching and conversa- 
tion, and beheld his miracles and holy example. 
He had himself been sent forth to preach, say- 
ing, ^' The kingdom of heaven is at hand,^^ and 
he had been entrusted with the power of heal- 
ing the sick and casting out devils. He had 
also been with his divine master in the hour of 
prayer, and stood by him on the mount of trans- 
figuration, when " his face did shine as the sun, 
and his garment was white as the light,^^ and 
'' there came a voice from the excellent glory, 
saying, This is my beloved Son, hear ye him.'' 
Nor was Simon's experience altogether of an 
outward character; for when he confessed that 
Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God, 
his master replied, ^^ Blessed art thou, Simon 
Bar-jona ] for flesh and blood hath not revealed 
it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.'' 



16 ONREPlNTANCE 

Yet it appears that notwithstanding all his pre- 
cious opportunities, and his ardent love for Christ, 
Peter had not yet been thoroughly converted. 

John. I am almost ready to say, this is hard 
doctrine, who can bear it; for if Peter, after all 
this experience, had not been converted, how can 
one so young and weak as I, hope to attain that 
blessed state ? 

Father. Be not discouraged, my son. He who 
hath begun a good work in thee, is able and will- 
ing to carry it on and complete it. All he re- 
quires on thy part iiJ, watchfulness to know his 
will, obedience to follow it, and patience to en- 
dure his righteous judgments. Every victory 
over sin, and every escape from temptation, is 
accompanied by an immediate reward of "joy 
in the holy spirit;" for he "feeds his flock like 
a shepherd, he gathers the lambs with his arm 
and carries them in his bosom." 

Conversion docs not depend upon the abun- 
dance of our knowledge, but upon the subjection 
of our wills to the Divine government. This 
brings us into a teachable, humble, childlike 
state; — for " except ye be converted, and become 
as little children y ye shall not oiler into the king^ 
dom of heaven.*' 

John, Is there any evidence in the scriptures 



AND CONVERSION. 17 

that Peter was not in this state, except the pas- 
sage alluded to ? 

Father. Yes; there are several circumstances 
related of him, which show that he was &till 
governed by his own will, and had not been 
^* transformed by the renewing of his mind ;" — 
for instance, when his master said to him, 
" Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, 
but thou shalt follow me afterwards,'^ — Peter 
answered with much confidence, '' Lord why 
cannot I follow thee now ? I will lay down my 
life for thy sake/' But it appears that his con- 
fidence in himself was entirely misplaced, for 
when the hour of trial came, he not only denied 
his master thrice, but " he began to curse and 
to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom 
ye speak/' Mark xiv. 71. 

John, Perhaps this instance of humiliating 
weakness came upon him in consequence of his 
having so much confidence in himself, that He 
did not continue in watchfulness and prayer. 

Father. Yes, there is no doubt of it, — and 
there is no safety for the most experienced 
Christian, but in a state of continual reliance 
upon Divine aid, which is always afforded when 
rightly sought for. ^* God is faithful," says the 
apostle, '^ and will not suffer you to be tempted 
2* B 



18 ON REPENTANCE 

above that ye are able, but will with the temp- 
tation also make a way to escape, that ye may 
be able to bear it/' 1 Cor. x. 13. 

James. Was there no other part of Peter's 
conduct that indicated the state of his mind ? 

Father. Yes, there was. It appears that when 
Jesus began *^ to show unto his disciples, how 
that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many 
things of the elders, and chief priests, and 
scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the 
third day; then Peter took him and began to 
rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord ; 
this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and 
said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, satan ; 
thou art an offence unto me, for thou savourest 
not the things that be of God, but those that 
be of men/' Matt. xvi. 21-28. This con- 
duct of Peter arose from his not understanding 
the nature of Christ's kingdom ; which can onl^ 
be understood by coming under the government 
of the spirit of Christ. When Jesus was de- 
manded of tl: e Pharisees, when the kingdom of 
God should come, he answered them and said, 
The kingdom of God cometh not with observa- 
tion. Neither shall they say, Lo here ! or lo 
there ! for behold, the kingdom of God is tcith- 
in you** Luke xvii. 20, 21. But although 



AND CONVERSION. 19 

Peter had experienced the baptism of repent- 
ance, which was typified by the watery baptisna 
of John, he had not yet been introduce! into 
the spiritual kingdom of Christ ; for " the least 
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John/' 
Notwithstanding he had heard this doctrine 
preached, and seen it exemplified in the meek, 
non-resisting example of the Saviour, his mind 
was still veiled by the prejudices of education, 
and he expected the Messiah to reign as a tempo- 
ral prince, to subdue their outward enemies, in- 
stead of waiting in prayer that his power might 
be revealed in them, to jubdue their spiritual 
enemies. It was therefore expedient for them 
that he should go away, in order that the '' Com- 
forter, which is the spirit of Truth, might come 
and lead them into all truth/' This Comforter 
is the manifestation of the same Divine life and 
light which dwelt in him; for "in him was life; 
and the life was the light of men : that is the 
true Light which lighteth every man that cometh 
into the world/' John i. 4-9. 

John, And did not Peter show that the natural 
man was still prevalent in him, when he took a 
Bword and smote ofi" the ear of the high priest's 
servant ? 

Father. I think that was a very strong evidence 



20 ON REPENTANCE 

that his heart had not been thoroughlj brought 
under Christ^s government, for the same spirit 
will always bring forth the same fruit. Now, 
the fruit of the Divine spirit " is love, joy, 
peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness, temperance : against such there is no 
law/' Gal. V. 22. 

James. I think Peter was v^ry much like the 
professors of Christianity at the present day. He 
had not faith to suffer with Christ, but he was 
t(filln)(j to fiijlit for him. 

Father. Yes : for he could fight without 
taking up the cross of self-denial. But how dif- 
ferent was the conduct of the holy Jesus! for 
he " touched the servant's ear and healed it," 
saying, '* Put up again thy sword into his place ; 
for all they that take the sword shall perish with 
the sword." Matt. xxvi. 52. 

James. Perhaps Peter had mistaken his mas- 
ter's meaning, when he told them a little before, 
'* He that hath no sword, let him sell his gar- 
ment and buy one." 

Father. It is very probable he did mistake it, 
as he was not then in a state of mind to under- 
ptand spiritual things; — but his mistake was 
soon corrected, for when they said, ** Lord, here 
arc two snords/' he replied, ^* It is enough;" 



AND CONVERSION. 21 

thereby intimating that he did not mean carnal 
weapons. 

On considering the whole paragraph, in con* 
nection with the precepts and example of Christ, 
it is plain, that he intended only to warn them 
that a time of deep trial was approaching, when 
they would need the whole of that spiritual arm- 
our which was afterwards described by the apos- 
tle as the " whole armour of God/^ '^ Stand, 
therefore/' says he, ^^ having your loins girt 
about with truth, and having on the breast-plate 
of righteousness; and your feet shod with the 
preparation of the gospel of peace ; above all, 
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall 
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the 
wicked ; and take the helmet of salvation, and the 
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God : 
praying always with all prayer and supplication 
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all 
perseverance and supplication for all saints/' — 
Eph. vi. 13-18. 

These are the weapons of the Christian's war- 
fare, and these were the weapons that Christ 
himself made use of. He overcame hatred by 
love, he conquered pride by meekness, and he 
triumphed over error by the spirit ^f Truth. 
lie tauglit his disciples to resist not evil, but 



22 ON REPENTANCE 

" when smitten on one cheek to turn the othei 
also/' ^'Love your enemies," said he, * bless 
them that curse you, do good unto them that 
hate you, and pray for them that despit^fully 
use you and persecute you/' " If you love 
them that love you, what reward have you ? do 
not even the publicans the same ?" But "be ye 
perfect, even as your Father iq heaven is per- 
fect ; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil 
and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on 
the unjust; and he is kind even to the unthank- 
ful and to the evil." These sublime precepts of 
Jesus were exemplified in every act of his spot- 
less life, for " when he was reviled he reviled 
not again, and when he suffered he threatened 
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth 
righteously." 1 Peter ii. 23. "To this end 
was I born," said he, "and for this purpose 
came I into the world, that I should bear wit- 
ness unto the truth." John xviii. 37. These 
glorious truths were taught in his discourseSi 
confirmed by his example, and sealed with his 
blood " As a sheep before his shearers is dumb, 
so he opened not his mouth," but patiently bore 
all the sufferings that their iniquity inflicted 
upon him ; and his faithfulness under sufferings 
was not only a sacrifice acceptable to Grod, bu^ 



AND CONVERSION. 23 

also an example to us. " For," says the apos- 
tle, ^^ what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted 
for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But 
if, when ye do well^ and suffer for it, ye take it 
patiently, this is acceptable with God: for even 
hereunto were ye called; because Christ also 
svffered for us, leaving us an example that we 
should follow his steps/^ 1 Peter ii. 20, 21. 

James. But, father, it seems to me, that if 
we were to follow this example and these pre- 
cepts, we should be very often imposed upon and 
injured by the wicked. 

Father. This was the very objection that the 
unbelieving Jews started in that day; for they 
said, " If we let this man thus alone, all men 
will believe on him, and tbe Romans will come 
and take away our place and nation." So they 
put him to a cruel and ignominious death ; 
nevertheless the Romans did come, and take 
away their place and nation. 

James. I believe most professors of Christian- 
ity expect to act upon peaceable principles, as 
soon as the state of the world will bear it. 
When the millenium shall come, then will 
^' their swords be beaten into ploughshares, and 
their spears into pruning hooks; for nation shall 



24 ON REPENTANCE 

not lift up sword against nation, neithei shall 
they learn war any more/' 

John. Yes ] I suppose it will be very easy to 
refrain from fighting, when there shall be no 
provocation offered to us; but how is such h. 
state of things to be brought about ? 

Father, The way is very clearly pointed out, — 
it must be by the power of Grod, manifested in 
the meek example and patient sufferings of the 
faithful. This was the way that Christianity 
was first propagated ; and its wonderful progress, 
during the days of the apostles and primitive 
martyrs, attests the wisdom and power of its 
divine Author. The apostle Peter, of whom we 
have been speaking, after that the Holy Spirit 
with power from on high had come upon him, 
and renewed his heart, could then follow the 
meek example and holy precepts of Christ; and 
by preaching with boldness, and suffering with 
patience, even unto death, he bore testimony to 
the truth of the Gospel, and proved that his 
heart was then converted by the purifying influ- 
ence of the spirit of Christ. In those primitive 
times, the law of love governed the lives of the 
followers of Christ, and influenced all their con- 
duct, not only towards one another, but towards 
all mankind : they did not fight against their 



AND CONVERSION. 25 

fnemies, but prayed for them, ^nd whenever 
primitive Christianity shall prevail in the world, 
it must bear the same fruits of meekness and 
love ; for the tree will always be known by its 
fruits — ^^ men do not gather grapes of thorns, 
nor figs of thistles/' 

John. It appears to me that if all who pro- 
fess to be followers of Christ would only walk 
in his footsteps, the world would soon wear a 
different aspect from what it now does. 

James. I do not profess to be a religious man, 
but I can plainly see the great disparity there is 
between the profession and the practice of those 
who are called the followers of Christ; and I 
have at times been almost ready to conclude, that 
there is no genuine religion among them. 

Father. There is no doubt that the cause of 
Truth has sustained more injury from the incon- 
sistency of its professors, than from all the efforts 
of deists and infidels. But we must not charge 
upon Christianity the faults of those who merely 
profess the name, without becoming obedient to 
the spirit of Christ; for in these is fulfilled the 
prophecy of Isaiah, ^' In that day shall seven 
women take hold of one man, saying, we will 
eat our own bread and wear our axon apparel: 
only let us be called by thy name, to take away 
3 



26 ONREPENTANCE 

our reproach/^ Thej do not depend upon Christ * 
to give them the living bread which comes down 
from heaven^ and gives life to the soul ; — nor do 
the J wait for the water of life^ which springs up 
in the obedient, dedicated mind ; — neither do 
they wear the seamless garment of simplicity 
and truth : but they are willing to be called by 
his excellent name, while in their hearts they 
are '' crucifying to themselves the Son of God 
afresh, and putting him to an open shame/' 

John. Would not a continual obedience to the 
teachings of Divine grace in our hearts, lead us 
into conformity with the example of Christ ? 

Father. Certainly it would : for that grace is 
a manifestation of the same spirit that was in 
Christ; (John i. 4-16) and if we were obedient 
to it, we should be led out of all evil, and from 
under the bondage of corruption, into the glo- 
rious liberty of the sons of God. 

James. , But if this spirit is so very powerful, 
why is it that so few persons understand and 
obey it ? 

Father. Because, in its first appearance, the 
seed of the kingdom is so small that it is over- 
looked or trodden down. It is likened to a 
^^ grain of mustard seed, which is the smallest 
cf all seedS; but when it is grown it is the great* 



AND CONVERSION. 27 

est of herbs, so that the fowls of the air lodge 
iQ its branches/' Those who are looking for 
great things, and extraordinary illuminations, 
will not put their faith in this little seed whicb 
is sown in every heart; and yet, ^^in it are hid- 
den all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge;^' 
for it is that " grace of God which bringeth sal- 
vation, and hath appeared to all men, teaching 
us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, 
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly 
in this present world/' Titus ii. 11, 12. 

The first appearance of this Divine grace, or 
monitor, in the hearts of transgressors, is in the 
character of a reprover for sin ; — and if we will 
be obedient to it, by repenting and turning away 
from our sins, it then becomes known to us as a 
comforter in righteousness : — and if we still con- 
tinue to follow it for our guide, it will become 
to us a ^^ spirit of judgment, and a spirit of 
burning, and will purel}' purge away our dross, 
and take away our tin : for Zion shall be re- 
deemed with judgment, and her converts with 
righteousness/' Isaiah iv. 4, and i. 25, 27. 

If any man think to be saved by a profession 
of religion, or an implicit belief in the doctrines 
of Christianity, without experiencing a regene- 
ration and bringing forth the fruits of the spirit 



28 ON REPENTANCE 

of Christ, he is deceiving himself, and building 
'*his house upon the sand/' It was against 
such professors that the wo was denounced by 
the pnphet,— ^^ Wo unto him that buildeth his 
house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by 
wrong, that useth his neighbour's service with- 
out wages, and giveth him not for his work." 
Jer. xxii. 13. 

John. But does not this strike at the root of 
involuntary slavery, which many professors are 
concerned in ', for that appears to me to be 
<< usintj our neighbour s service without wages f*' 
Father. Certainly it does : for the Jews were 
taught by Jesus in the parable of the good Sa- 
maritan, to regard all men as their neighbours, — 
even the Samaritans with whom they had long 
been at enmity. But there are some of his pre- 
cepts which are still more pointed against sU- 
very. One of them is, " Thou shalt love thy 
neighbour as thyself." And another is, '' Do 
unto others as thou wouldst that they should do 
unto thee." He who follows these precepU 
cannot possibly compel his fellow-creatures to 
work for him against tlieir consent, nor with- 
out giving them full compensation for their 

labour. 

John. But I have heard professors who wcr« 



AND CONVERSION. 29 

slave-holders say, that the Jews under the old 
law were allowed to hold slaves.* 

Father. Yes ] but Paul says ^' the law made 
DOthing perfect, but the bringiug in of a better 
hope did, by which we draw nigh unto God/* 
Heb. vii. 19. The law of Moses was not from 
the beginning, but " was added because of trans- 
gression, till the seed should come to whom the 
promise was made." Gal. iii. 19. The Israelites 
were then in such a dark, carnal state, that 
they could not receive a more spiritual law; and 
the professors of Christianity whose minds are 
now in the same dark state, find it very conve- 
nient to go back to those who lived under the 
law, for examples to follow, instead of following 
after Christ. By this means they might justify 
not only war and slavery, but polygamy and 
other gross evils. Moses allowed a man who 
was not satisfied with his wife, to give her a 
writing of divorcement, and put her away ; but 
Christ says, it was ^' not so from the heginningy* 
and that it was allowed by Moses '^ because of 
the hardness of their hearts.'^ 

* The permission granted to the Israelites to buy 
bonimen from among the heathen, was coupled with 
provisions for their religious instruction, and their lib- 
eration on the year of jubilee. 

3* 



30 ON EEPENTANCE 

John, But does not iie New Testament speak 
of servants? 

Father. Yes : it speaks of those whose call- 
ing or business in life was that of servants; and 
Paul advises such to be content in their calling : 
saying, " Let every man remain in the calling 
wherein he was called. Art thou called being 
a servant ? care not for it/' 1 Cor. vii. 20. But 
we are not to suppose that these were slaves, for 
a man may agree to serve another for wages, 
and then he is called a servant. 

John. It appears to me that a great many 
good men, in all ages of the world, have been 
concerned in the practice of going to war, and 
holding slaves. 

Father. A great many persons who were sin- 
cerely pious, have been partakers of these evils, 
their eyes being so blinded by the prejudices ot 
education that they did 'not see them in their 
true light. We find, however, that such persons 
have always mourned over the calamities of war, 
and endeavored to mitigate the hardships of sla- 
very ; and if they had followed still further the 
teachings of this benevolent spirit, they would 
have been led by it entirely out of these evils ; 
for, like the dawning of light up.->n the natural 
world, the perception of Divine T.uth in the 



AND CONVERSION. 31 

minds of individuals and nations, is always gra 
dual and progressive. But it appears from the 
history of the Christian Church, that the prac- 
tice of war, even in self-defence, was condemned 
by the primitive Christians for the first three 
centuries : and after the visible church became 
corrupted, and had apostatized from the Truth, 
there were large numbers, in almost every age, who 
bore a faithful testimony against the shedding 
of human blood, — against oaths of every kind, — 
against priestcraft and persecution, — and against 
many of the corruptions in faith and practice 
which had crept into the church. 

There were great numbers of these dissenters 
in Italy, from the ninth to the thirteenth cen- 
tury, who bore the name of Paterines; and a 
similar people were known in Piedmont by the 
name of Waldenses, who continued for five or 
six centuries, till about the time of the Reforma- 
tion.* The Moravian brethren professed nearly 
the same principles both before and since the 
Reformation, and the Society of Friends have 
borne the same testimonies for nearly two hun- 
dred years past. All these people suffered se- 

* For a full account of these people, see Jones's 
Church History. Some notice of them may be found 
in Mosheim's Ecc. History. 



32 ON REPENTANCE 

verely from persecution, and immense nirmbera 
sealed their testimonies with their blood in mar- 
tyrdom, rather than take up the sword in self- 
defence; but they were sometimes wonderfully 
preserved, and seldom suffered from any others 
tlian the false professors of Christianity. Even 
the Indians of North America respected the 
Friends and Moravians, although in the first set- 
tlement of Pennsylvania they were entirely un- 
protected by arms, and professed the principle 
of non-resistance. 

These holy and benevolent principles must 
prevail more generally among professing Chris- 
sians, before that happy era can arrive when the 
lion and the lamb shall lie down together, when 
the outcasts of Israel shall be gathered, and 
Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God. 

Every one who professes to be a follower of 
Christ, in this enlightened age, should reflect 
deeply upon these things, and endeavor to walk 
in the narrow path of self-denial; for we shall 
not be judged by the measure of knowledge 
that was imparted to other men of former ages, 
but according to what has been made known to 
ourselves. "Unto whomsoever much is given, 
of him shall be much required : and to whom 
men have committed much, of him they will 



AND CONVERSION. 33 

ask the more/' Luke xii. 48. If tlie holy men 
who are mentioned in the Old Testament lived 
up to the law that was given to them, we ought 
likewise to live up to the law that was given to 
us, which is not an outward law that can take 
cognizance of outward acts only, but is an in- 
ward law that takes hold of the motives and 
principles of action^ being written by ^^ the spirit 
of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in 
the fleshly tables of the heart/' Jer. xxxi. 33, 
and 2 Cor. iii. 3. It is this ^^ law of the spirit 
of life in Christ Jesus which makes free from 
the law of sin and death.'' See Rom. viii. 2. 
For it will (in those who are obedient to it) 
" crucify the flesh with its aflfections and lusts.'' 

When the '^ love of God is shed abroad in 
the heart^' and becomes our governing principle, 
it makes us love all God's creation, and especi- 
ally all mankind ; '' for he made of one blood all 
nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of 
the earth." 

If God is ^^ good even to the unthankful and 
to the evil," will not his Holy Spirit prompt us 
to pursue the same course ? And if his beloved 
Son laid down his life for the good of mankind, 
and prayed for his persecutors, w'll not his do- 
c 



34 ONREPENTANCE 

minion in our hearts be attested by the same 
kind of fruits ? 

These truths are undeniable ; and I think it 
is equally clear that the man who comes fully 
under the government of Divine Love, will not 
only bear a faithful testimony against all conten- 
tion, oppression and injustice, but against every- 
thing that is opposed to the peace and happiness 
of man. He cannot enrich himself by dealing 
in that which makes other men poor ; neither 
can he become an instrument of evil by encour- 
aging in any way the frequent or unnecessary 
use of ardent spirits, when he sees how many 
thousands in our country are falling a prey to 
intemperance, and how many tens of thousands 
it has reduced to misery and ruin. 

John. I should think the effect of true reli- 
gion must be, not only to restrain us from evil, 
but to lead us into all goodness. 

Father. Certainly it is. We must not only 
" cease to do evil,'' but we must " learn to do 
welV and thus obtain the fulfilment of that 
blessed promise : " Though your sins be as scar- 
let, they shall be as white as snow, and though 
they be red like crimst n, they shall be as wool.*' 
Isa. i. 16-18. 

Our holy and blessed example, Christ Jesus, 



AND CONVERSION. 35 

went about continually doing good ; — it was his 
meat and his drink to do his Father's will ^ and 
all those who would be his disciples must follow 
his steps, as far as light and ability are afforded. 

^^ Is not this the fast which I have chosen/' 
saith the Lord, ^^ to loose the bands of wicked- 
ness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the 
oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ? 
Is it not, to deal thy bread to the hungry, and 
that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy 
house ? When thou seest the naked that thou 
cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from 
thy own flesh/' Isaiah Iviii. 6, 7. 

He who does these things from the pure mo- 
tive of Christian charity, will not sound a trum- 
pet before him, but will endeavour to ^^ do them 
in secret, and he who seeth in secret will reward 
him openly/' It is true, the Divine Being looks 
at the state of our hearts, and the motives of 
our actions, rather than the actions themselves ; 
but pure motives and good feelings cannot long 
exist in us, without bringing forth their appro- 
priate fruits ; — therefore the apostle James says, 
that "faith without works is dead," and that 
" pure religion and undefiled before God and 
the Father is this : to visit the fatherless and 
widows in their affli3tion, and to keep ourselves 



86 ON REPENTANCE 

unspotted from the world." Now in order to 
keep ourselves unspotted from the world, wa 
must not only forsake its vices, but we must 
turn away from its vain fashions and trifling 
amusements. We must not " be conformed to 
this world, but transformed by the renewing of 
our minds." Rom. xii. 2. And we are required 
<^to walk in wisdom towards them that are with- 
out, redeeming the time ; and let your speech 
be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that 
ye may know how ye ought to answer every 
man." Colos. iv. 5, 6. 

These are the genuine and invariable fruits of 
being " born again of incorruptible seed, by the 
word of God which Uveth and abideth forever;" 
and it is not possible for any soul to participate 
in the joys o£ heaven, either here or hereafter, 
without being born again, and made a "partaker 
of the Divine nature." 

The gospel of Christ (by which I mean the 
^' power of God unto salvation," Rom. i. 16,) is 
truly a glorious gospel ; for it saves men from 
the dreadful efl^ects of sin, not by an imputative 
righteousness, but by taking away the sinful 
nature out of the heart, so that those who have 
been dead in sin are raised up in newness of life. 
We cannot be reconciled to God while we re- 



AND CONVERSION. 37 

main in a state of sin ; for ^^ what communion 
hath light with darkness, and what concord hath 
Christ with Belial ?'^ That corrupt nature in 
man which has sinned, must be crucified and 
slain, (Rom. vi. 6,) in order that Christ may 
reign in us ; for ^' if any man be in Christ he is 
a new creature, all old things are done away, and 
all things are new, and all things of God/' We 
must '' put off the old man with his deeds, and 
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowl- 
edge after the image of him that created him, 
sphere there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumci- 
sion nor uncircumcision. Barbarian nor Scythian, 
bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all'^ 
The true Christian knows no distinction of 
party or sect, of rank or condition ; for he loves 
all mankind; — and all those who are governed 
by the same pure spirit, whatever may be their 
name or profession of religion, he can salute as 
brethren. He does not expect the fellowship 
of the gospel to be always aocompanied by an 
entire uniformity of opinion, for it is ^^ the unity 
of the spirit^^ that is ^Hhe bond of peace ;' ^ and 
if all the professors of religion were governed 
by that one pure spirit which speaks ^^ peace on 
earth and good will to men,'' there would be no 
occasion for creeds to define the boundaries that 
4 



38 ON REPENTANCE 

separate one sect from another. It has alwayi 
been the effect of human creeds and systems of 
religion, to array sect against sect, and brother 
against brother; but our Divine Master has 
given us no creed to bind the consciences of 
men, except the one rule by which their prin- 
ciples may be known, which is to try them by 
their fruits; for a good tree cannet bring forth 
evil fruit, nor an evil tree good fruit. 

" Love is the fulfilling of the law," and " by 
this shall all men know that yc arc my db?ci- 
ples, if yc have love one to another." " Not 
every one that saith unto me Jx)rd, Lord, shall 
be saved, but he that doeth (he will of my 
Father which is in heaven." 

Let no man think himself converted, or re- 
generated, until he finds the pure spirit of 
Divine Love to be his govern in fj principle in 
thought, word, and deed, so that "whether he 
eats, or whether he drinks, or whatsoever Jie 
does, it is all f#r the glory of God." Then, 
and not till then, can it be truly said that he is 
renewed in the spirit of his mind, and that he 
has put on the new man, which after God is 
created in righteousnes and true holinesss." — 
Ephesians iv. 24. We are assured that those 
who arrive at this blesssed state will find "the 



AND CONVERSION. 39 

yoke made easy and the burden light/' for there 
will be a spring of joy opened in their hearts, 
that will make every trial and affliction seem as 
nothing, for Christ^s sake. The pleasures and 
honours of the world will, in their view, lose all 
their charms to please, and they will go on their 
way rejoicing in a living foretaste of those celes- 
tial joys which the world can neither give nor 
take away. But even in this state of mind, 
there is a continual need of reliance upon Di- 
vine aid , for ^- it is not in man that walketh to 
direct his steps.'' Jer. x. 23. And that soJ- 
emn injunction of Christ should never be for- 
gotten, — " Watch ye therefore, for ye know not 
when the master of the house cometh, at even, 
or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the 
morning ; lest coming suddenly he find you sleep- 
ing. And what I say unto you, I say unto all. 
Watch." Mark xiii. 35. 



CONVERSATION II. 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

John. In a former conversation the subjects 
of repentance and conversion were discussed, 
and we were shown the necessity of being '^born 
again of incorruptible seed, by the word of God, 
which liveth and abideth forever/' There is 
another subject of much interest which I desire 
to understand, and that is the right mode of 
worshipping the Divine Being. 

Father. This is a subject of deep interest 
to every awakened mind, and I shall endeavour 
to state my views upon it for your serious con- 
sideration ; not wishing you to adopt them any 
further than you may be convinced in your own 
minds of their truth. 

James. There is a wide difference among 
Christians of various denominations in their 
manner of worship, and yet most of them pro- 
fess to derive their views from the same source. 
The Catholics have their stated forms of prayer 
4* (41) 



4^2 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

and praise, many of which are repeated in a 
dead language ; the Episcopalians have theirs 
all written and repeated in the English language; 
the Presbyterians have no forms for their pray- 
ers, but their hymns are set to music, and some- 
times accompanied by the organ ; the Metho- 
dists and Baptists have mostly discarded the 
instrumental music, but still retain the vocal, — 
while the Friends, or Quakers, have relinquished 
both, and all set forms of prayer and preaching, 
deeming neither indispensable to Divine wor- 
ship, which they believe may be acceptably per- 
formed in silence. Now, if the Bible be so 
perlbct a rule as is generally stated, how is it 
that all these people diflfer so much in their 
view^s, for they all appeal to it for authority ? 

Father. The Old Testament is very explicit 
in stating the form of worship and all the cere- 
monict^ enjoined upon the Jews, because that 
was an outward dispensation, intended to typify 
and lead to a spiritual dispensation ; and its end 
being accomplished, it was abrogated by the 
coming of Christ. Now we may remember he 
said to the woman of Samaria, *^ The hour 
Cometh and now is, when the true worshippers 
ihall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, 
for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 43 

God is a spirit, and they that worship him, must 
worship him in spirit and in truth/^ 

I have no doubt that this spiritual worship,— 
this communion of the soul with the Father of 
spirits, — has been, and still is performed at 
times by the pious and sincere worshippers in 
all the various sects of Christendom; — the ques- 
tion is, which of the various forms of worship 
is most consistent with the Christian dispensa- 
tion, and best adapted to promote true spiritual 
worship. 

John, I think it is much to be regretted, that 
the writers of the New Testament were not a 
little more explicit in regard to the manner of 
worship, for there has been a great deal of dis- 
puting about it among the professors of Christi- 
anity. 

Father, I do not think so. For Christ said 
to his disciples, '' I have yet many things to say 
to you, but ye cannot bear them now ; howbeit, 
when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will 
guide you into all truth : for he shall not speak 
of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that 
shall he speak : and he will show you things to 
come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive 
of mine, and shall shew it unto you.^' John 
xvi. 12-14. Was it not much better to direct 



44 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

their attention to the teachings of the Spirit of 
Truth, (which he has promised to all those who 
wait upon him) than to give them verbal or 
written instructions about the manner of wor- 
ship, which perhaps they were not in a state to 
receive ? 

John. Those who were to be guided by the 
Spirit of Truth, or indued with a miraculjus 
gift of the Holy Ghost, did not need such par- 
ticular directions, but if the apostles, while un ler 
the influence of this power, had written a 
more minute account of their forms of wor- 
ship, it might have saved a great deal of con- 
troversy. 

Father. True spiritual worship does not de- 
pend upon any form, but upon the power or 
influence under which it is performed. ** The 
kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." 
1 Cor. iv. 20. It is not necessary that we should 
use the same form of worship that the apostles 
did, — but it is absolutely necessary that we should 
be governed and influenced by the same power, 
or Spirit of Truth ; for without it we cannot 
even think a good thought y much less can we 
perform acceptably the solemn service of Divine 
worship. The apostle Paul said, " We are not 
suflicient of ourselves, to think any thing as of 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 4? 

out selves, but our sufficiency is of God, who also 
hath made us able ministers of the New Testa- 
ment; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for 
the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life/^ 2 
Cor. iii. 5, 6. 

John. But would not the same spirit always 
lead into the same form ? 

Father. It will always produce the same fruits 
of holiness, but not always the same form of 
worship; for the Divine Being adapts his in- 
structions and requisitions to the state of the 
people whom he visits. His mercy and his con- 
descension to the children of Israel were so 
great that he gave them an outward law, adapted 
to their weak, carnal state ; and he made that 
law a figure, or shadow of good things to come, 
so that they might be led by the shadow to seek 
for the ^^ substance, which is Christ.'' It is 
evident that the prophets and other holy men 
who lived under the law, did come to the know- 
ledge of Christ ; for the apostle Peter says ex- 
pressly, that *^ the spirit of Christ was in them.'' 
1 Peter i. 11. But in process of time, the 
Mosaic law became much corrupted by the 
traditions of the elders which the scribes had 
engrafted upon it, and the people became so de- 
pendent upon outward observances that they 



46 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

^^ omitted the weightier matters of the law, 
judgment, mercy, and faith/' Matt, xxiii. 23. 
Then it became necessary to abolish that law, 
and Jesus Christ came to " take away the hand- 
writing of ordinances, and to introduce a more 
spiritual dispensation^ which he exemplified in 
his life and sealed by his death. This law of 
the new covenant wa& predicted by the prophet 
Jeremiah, who says, "This shall be the cove- 
nant I will make with the house of Israel : After 
those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in 
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, 
and will be their God, and they shall be my 
people." Jer. xxxi. 38. It is far superior to 
any outward law, because it is always adapted to 
the condition of each individual, and it is not 
limited in its application to our outicard aciionsy 
for it condemns every evil thought which rises 
in the mind ; and thus in the obedient, dedica- 
ted soul, it lays the axe to the root of the cor- 
rupt tree. 

John. I acknowledge all this is consistent witk 
the scriptures ; but I have sometimes met with 
persons who say that all immediate revelation 
has ceased, and that we have nothing to depend 
on now, but the scriptures and our reasoning 
powers. 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 47 

Father. Yes^ there are such persons, and 
Bome of them even pretend to be Christians. 
But the scripture tells us, "No man can say 
that Jesus is Lord, hut hy the Holy Ghost. ^^ 1 
Cor. xii. 3. 

James. I have often heard such persons speak 
on religion, — 'and I confess that I have so little 
knowledge on the subject, that I could not 
refute their reasonings. I should like to be 
certain that the Divine spirit does operate upon 
man, and inform him of his duty, before we 
proceed further in the consideration of spiritual 
worship. 

Father. The 'best way, and the only sure way 
for a man to be satisfied of this, is, to be obe- 
dient to every manifestation of duty in his own 
mind, — to keep all his passions in subjection, 
and to do ^very thing that 'he believes will be 
pleasing in the sight of G-od ; and he will then 
find, as he continues to walk in this path, that 
his spiritual perceptions will improve ; and 
he will sec many things to "be wrong, which 
he once considered indifi'erent, and will expe- 
rience many joys to spring up in his heart, which 
before were unknown to him j until at length he 
may arrive at that state of " full age,^^ which the 
apostle Paul speaks of, " ev^en of those who bv 



48 ON DIVINE WORSHIP 

reason of use have their senses exercised to dis 
cern both good and evilJ^ H(b. v. 14. That 
we have a sense of duty^ or moral faculty (b^ 
Bome called conscience) placed in our minds, 
which when divinely enlightened, enables us to 
discern both good and evil, without waiting for 
the sIo\D deductions of reason ^ must be acknoT^l- 
edged by every man that is acquainted with his 
own heart. This important truth, which is so 
plainly taught in the sacred writings, and so 
readily acknowledged by every unprejudiced 
mind, was long obscured, and even denied, in the 
false theology of the schoolmen '' who darkemed 
counsel by words without knowledge ;" — but ii 
is now acknowledged by the most distinguished 
writers on moral philosophy; and it has been 
ably proved, that this ^^ moral sense'' is one of 
the earliest faculties developed in childhood; that 
it is capable of being improved by use, or im- 
paired by neglect; and that on its use or abu^e 
is dependent the happiness ot misery of man.* 

James. These facts are acknowledged even 
by those who deny the authority of the scrip- 
tures. 

Father. Now, if it be admitted t!iat we have 
ft "moral sense," for discerning between good 

* See Stewart's Moral Philosophy. 



O \ DIVINE WORSHIP. 49 

and evil, it follows as a necessary consequence, 
that there must be a medium by which this 
sense is brought into use : for the eye cannot 
see witliout light ; nor can the ear hear without 
sound. The Divine Spirit is the medium which 
conYcyf3 to our conscience, or moral sense, the 
knowledge of spiritual things. It is called the 
light, because it is the medium of perception. 
It is called the word of Crod, because through 
this medium he speaks to the soul ; and it is 
called the gi^ace of God, because it is given 
fn^cly, "without money and without price.'' — 
Jesus refers to the conscience as the eye of the 
soul, when he says, " If thine eye be single, thy 
whole body will be full of light : but if thine 
eye he evil, thy whole body will be full of dark- 
ness/' There is such a striking analogy between 
the effects of light upon the natural eye, and 
t^io operations of the Divine Spirit in the soul, 
that I am willing to pursue it further. 

The first thing that strikes the attention of 
an infant is the light; yet it has no knowledge 
of the nature and properties of light, nor the 
uses for which it was designed; — it does not 
even know the distance, nor size, nor quality, of 
•>.ny thing it sees, until its senses are improved 
by exercise. Persons who were born blind, and 
5 D 



50 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

have been restored to sight by a surgical opera- 
tion, have at first to examine and handle every 
thing they see, like the infant docs, until by 
experience they learn to judge of the size and 
distance of objects. All their first perceptions 
are imperfect and indistinct. Like the man 
who was restored to sight by. our Lord, they see 
^* men as trees walking.^' Yet none of these 
facts induce us to doubt of the qualities of light 
being the same in every individual; and even 
the man whose eyes are impaired by disease, so 
that he cannot direct his steps aright, must 
acknowledge, that on other men the light may 
be shining unimpaired. 

It is thus that our mental vision becomes gra- 
dually accustomed to the influence of the Divine 
Spirit '^ in whom we live, and move, and have 
our being;'' and as we are earnestly engaged in 
attending to its discoveries, and faithfully con- 
cerned to walk in the light, we shall become 
'^ children of the light and of the day,'' and 
will experience an advancement in the truth, 
and in the knowledge of the Lord : so that what 
was at first as " the light of the moon, shall 
become as the light of the sun, and the light of 
the sun shall become sevenfold, as the light of 
seven days: for the path of the just is as the 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 51 

fihining light, that shineth more and mon anto 
the perfect day/' 

James. I have long been acquainted, in some 
measure, with the effect of conscience in restrain- 
ing me from doing evil, or reproaching me for 
it; but I had no idea that this was any thing 
extraordinary. 

Father. It is not anything extraordinary, for 
all men have it; and the Divine light shines on 
the moral sense of all, but all men do not attend 
to it; for ^^men love darkness rather than light, 
because their deeds are evil/' 

It is acknowledged by all, that man has no- 
thing good in his own nature, independent of the 
Divine Being. " There is none good but one, — 
that is God.'' Therefore, if we find any thing 
in our own hearts to condemn us for evil, it must 
be something that is good, — something that 
comes from God; for evil will not condemn evil. 
Satan is not " divided against himself." This 
pure principle of Divine Light not only con- 
demns us for evil, and ^^sets our sins in order 
before us, but it likewise incites us to goodness : 
and when we are obedient to it, we are sensible 
of a holy joy, a heavenly serenity of mind,> 
which the apostle Paul describes as thf* ^^ love 
of God shed abroad in the heart." 



52 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

John. I can bear witness to that; for I have 
experienced it in some measure, and I must 
acknowledge that it far surpasses all the joys 
this world can afford. 

Father. These truths are admitted bj the 
most pious and enlightened writers of every 
Christian denomination that. I am acquainted 
with ; and many of them have acknowledged, 
that at times they have been so influenced by 
Divine grace in their religious services that their 
words seemed to come to them unsought, and 
were accompanied with such convincing power 
and Divine energy, that all opposition was sub- 
dued, and many hearts were melted into lov. 
and tenderness. Almost every pious and expe- 
rienced Christian will acknowledge, that he has 
often known sonfething of this heavenly influ 
ence to pervade his mind, during his seasons ot 
private devotion, when he has withdrawn his 
mind from the world, and prostrated his whoK 
soul in silent adoration before that awful 1^ 
whose presence fills infinity, and whose | 
upholds the universe. Why then should there 
be so little of this power and this precious so- 
lemnity experienced in the religious worship 
that generally prevails in Christendom '/ Is it 
aot because men have "forsaken God, the foun- 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 53 

tain of living water, and have hewn out to 
themselves cisterns, — broken cisterns, that can 
hold no water ?^' Instead of waiting for his 
power to influence their hearts, to control their 
thoughts, and to enable them to worship in spirit 
and in truth, how many rush into forms and 
ceremonies, without waiting for any Divine influ- 
ence to pervade their minds; forgetful of the 
apostolic declaration, that we ^^know not what 
to pray for as we ought, but the spirit itself 
maketh intercession for us with groanings which 
cannot be uttered ; and he that searcheth the 
heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, 
because he maketh intercession for the saints 
according to the will of God/' Romans viii. 
26, 27. 

John, But it will not be safe, from this, to 
conclude that all vocal utterance of prayer or 
praise is inconsistent with true spiritual worship ; 
for Christ himself prayed with his disciples, and 
gave them a form of prayer at their request. 
It is also said that they sang a hymn after eat- 
ing the passover. 

Father. I would by no means restrict Divine 
worship to entire silence; for it does not con- 
sist in outward silence alone, any more than it 
does in words. The apostle Paul says, ^' I will 



54 ON D:yiNE worship. 

pray with the sprit and with the understanding 
also : I will sing with the spirit and with the 
understanding also/^ 1 Cor. xiv. 15. From 
this it is evident he thought the understanding 
alone was not sufficient without the aid of ^' the 
spirit'' of Divine grace, to dictate prayer or 
praise to God. In his epistle to the Ephesians, 
he tells them to '^ take the helmet of salvation, 
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word 
of God ; praying always with all prayer and 
supplication, in the spirit, and watching there- 
unto, with all perseverance, and supplication for 
all saints.'' In nearly all the instructions of the 
blessed Jesus and his apostles respecting prayer, 
the duty of ?rrt^c7///i(7 is carefully enjoined ; for 
the hearts even of the faithful, are not always 
in a state suited to pray or sing praises to God. 

It is the duty of all to watch thereunto, as the 
" sick and the impotent folk" waited at the pool 
of Bethesda, until "an angel came down and 
troubled the water," and then "they stepped in" 
and " were healed of whatsoever disease they 
had." John V. 4. 

"Watch and pray," said Jesus, '^for ye 
know not the hour when the Son of man cometh." 
'' Blessed are those servants whom the Lord^ 
when he cometh, shall find watching : verily, I 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 55 

Bay unto jou, that lie shall gird himself, and 
make them to sit down to meat, and will come 
forth and serve them/^ Luke xii. 37. 

As to the hymn which they sang after eating 
the passover, I have no doubt it was dictated by 
the " power and wisdom of God/' which dwelt 
in Jesus; for he told them on several occasions, 
^^ Whatsoever I speak, even as the Father said 
unto me so I speak.'' '^I can of mine own self 
do nothing ; as I hear I judge." Therefore a 
hymn, dictated and sung under this Divine influ* 
ence, must have been highly edifying. When 
he promised his disciples that the '^ Comforter, 
which is the Spirit of Truth," should come and 
teach them all things, he certainly did not intend 
to limit its operations by confining them to a set 
form of prayer or praise. 

The prayer known by the name of the Lord's 
prayer, was also dictated by the same Divine 
wisdom, and was exactly adapted to the occa^ 
sion on which it was given ; but it does not fol- 
low that it will suit all occasions ; for we have 
no account of its being used afterwards by the 
apostles, although their praying is often men- 
tioned. 

The Lord's prayer is remarkably short, and 
yet very comprehensive ; and it appears to have 



56 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

been designed to show his disciples, that they 
must not be like the heathen, who thought " to 
be heard for their much speaking/' His para- 
ble of the publican who smote his breast, and 
said, ^^ God be merciful to me a sinner,'' and 
came down justified rather than the Pharisee 
who made a long profession, was also intended 
to show, that it is not the formal hypocrite, but 
the humble contrite heart, which is acceptable 
in the Divine sight. God looks at the heart; 
the forni of prayer or praise is nothing in his 
sight; but the influence under which it is per- 
formed is every thing. Our Lord says, '^ Your 
Father knoweth what things ye have need of 
before ye ask him." He knows what will be 
good for us better than we do ourselves; and if 
we set about asking him for whatever we may 
deem right in our own eyes, we shall often ^^ask 
amiss," and then it will be an evidence of his 
mercy not to grant it. 

James. What is the use of praying, then? 

Father. The object of prayer is not to change 
the Divine purposes j but to conform our wills to 
his. His will and his purposes are always the 
same, and always right ; for in him is neither 
variableness nor shadow of turning. One object 
of religious worship is, to seek for light from 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 57 

him to knoiu our own states and conditions ; and 
when we are thus brought to see what we stand 
in need of, he gives us ability to ask it ; he ex- 
tends his holy sceptre, and grants the prayer 
that is made according to his will. This is the 
prayer of faith that is always availing, whether 
it be uttered vocally, or only breathed in the 
secret of the soul. The man whose heart is 
devoted to God will be always '^ watching unto 
prayer/^ and may therefore be said to " pray 
without ceasing/' for he will be often engaged 
in mental supplication, or in songs of praise, 
" making melody in his heart unto the Lord/^ 
Nor will his prayers be confined to supplications 
for his own soul. As all the members of the 
true Church are one in spirit, being baptized by 
one spirit into one body, and thereby made to 
sympathize one with another ; so each member 
will be at times dipped into a feeling of near 
unity with the brethren, and may feel himself 
constrained, by the influence of Divine love, to 
offer up a petition on their behalf, either vocal 
or mental, which will be acceptable in the Di- 
vine sight; and being accompanied by the influ- 
ence of his Holy Spirit, cannot fail to do good. 
He who prays, preaches, or sings, without this 
Influence, is like one who shoots his arrows at a 



58 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

venture, and, unless his rashness be overruled 
by Divine Providence, he is more likely to dc 
harm than good. But even when we think our- 
selves clothed with ability for religious services, 
it is well to remember the caution of the royal 
preacher, " Keep thy foot when thou gocst tc 
the house of God, and be more ready to hear 
than to give the sacrifice of fools : for they con- 
sider not that they do evil. Be not rash with 
thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to 
utter any thing before God : for God is in hea- 
ven and thou upon earth; therefore let thy 
words be few/' Ecc. v. 1, 2. 

John. Does not our Lord promise that 
" whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will 
I do ? '' 

Father. Yes : there is such a promise frequent- 
ly repeated : but we are not to understand that 
merely taking the name of Jesus Christ into our 
moufhsj will ensure acceptance to our prayers ; 
for the wicked can do this as readily as tlie 
righteous, and even those who are comparatively 
good may do it improperly. The name of the 
Lord is often used in the scriptures to signify 
the power, spirit, or presence of the Lord. Thus, 
when he promised to send his angel to go before 
the Israelites to keep them in the wa; , he told 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 69 

tb-em, " Beware of him and obey his voice, pro- 
voke him not ; for he will not pardon your tr^s- 
gressions, for my name is in himJ' Ex. xxiii. 
21. "In all their afflictions he was afflicted 
and the angel of his presence saved them; in 
his love and in his pity he redeemed them, and 
he bare them and carried them all the days 
of old.'^ Isaiah xiii. 9. The prophet Jeremiah, 
in speaking of the coming of Christ, says, " This 
is his name whereby he shall be called, the 
Lord our righteousness.^^ And it is also said, 
'^ They shall call his name Emmanuel, which, 
being interpreted, is God with us/' Matt. i. 23. 
The name Jesus (a saviour) and Christ 
(anointed,) was given to him, because in him 
dwelt a full manifestation of the " power and 
wisdom of God,^^ who is the only Saviour; for 
he says by the mouth of the prophets, "I, even 
I, am the Lord, and besides me there is no Sa- 
viour.^^ Isaiah xli. 3 and 11. Hosea xiii. 4, 
Now if this name is intended to signify the 
power, spirit, or presence of God, do not those 
who invoke the name without feeling the power, 
take the name of the Lord in vain ? They who 
pray under the influence and direction of this 
holy name or power, will ask for nothing incon- 



60 N D 1 V I N E W R 6 H I p. 

Bistent with the Divine will, and therefore then 
nrayers will be always availing. 

John. But are we not required to pray foi 
all men ? and yet we believe that all men are 
not saved, for many continue to live in wickea- 



ness. 



Falhfr. God has no pleasure at all " that the 
wicked should die, but that he should return 
from his ways and live." Ezek. xviii. 23. He 
furnishes every man with the means of salv* 
tion; for "the grace of God, ichich hnngeth 
salvation, hath appeared to all men." He who 
loves God, will love all God's creation ; and this 
feeling of universal love will be found to arise 
in mental supplication for all men, that they 
may come to a knowledge of the same blessed 
truth ; and sometimes these aspirations will be- 
come so earnest as to give rise to the utterance 
of vocal prayer, which may, under the Pivinc 
blessing, produce in others the same kind cf 
feelings. But these precious feelings may spread 
from ^heart to heart, and rise into dominion, 
y:itliout the use of uords ; for there is in Divine 
love a sympathetic influence, which pervades the 
minds of those who worship aright ; and when 
they are assembled together in worship, it brings 
them into the '^ unity of the spirit, in the bond 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 61 

of peace/' and ihej seem to live and breathe in 
an atmosphere of love. This holy influence 
may be felt in sijch a degree as to surpass the 
power of utterance ; for human language has no 
terms by which to convey it to others, and it 
can only be conveyed in that " language in 
which we were born/' which is the language of 
impressions made upon the heart by the finger 
of God. The same kind of holy solemnity is 
described in the Revelations, as the highest degree 
of religious worship ; for, after the opening of 
the sixth seal, the apostle ^^saw a great multi- 
tude which no man could number, of all nations, 
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, who 
stood before the throne and before the Lamb, 
clothed with white robes and palms in their 
hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salva- 
tion to our God which sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb." But when the seventh 
and la&t seal was opened, every tongue was 
mute — every soul was prostrate in the presence 
of the living God, and there was ^^ silence in 
heaven about the space of half an hour.'' Rev. 
viii. 1. This state of mental silence, in which 
the active powers of man are all at rest and 
waiting upon God, was also prefigured in the 
institution of the Jewish or Seventh-daT/ Sab- 
6 



OJJ ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

bat h, which the apostle Paul expressly says, was 
" a shadow of things to come." Col. ii. 17. 
And in another place, after speaking of the 
Seventh-day, he says, '- There remaineth there- 
fore a r^st to the people of God; for he that 
hath entered into his rest, hath ceased from his 
own works as God did from his. Let us labour 
therefore to enter into that rest." Hebrews 
iv. 9-11. 

They who have ceased from their own works, 
from the " will-worship and voluntary humility" 
of the natural man, are then prepared to enter 
into the closet of the heart, and shutting the 
door upon the world, to offer up their prayers 
in secret to the Father of spirits ; and " he who 
seeth in secret, will reward them openly," by 
granting them ability to overcome every temp- 
tation that may assail them. • 

James. This doctrine would seem to exclude 
from public worship, not only instrumental 
music, but even the singing of hymns. Yet it 
appears to me, that there are directions some- 
where in the new Testament for singing hymns 
and spiritual songs.- 

Father, Instrument-al music is entirely with- 
out example or precept in the New Testament j 
and there is good reason to believe it never was 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 63 

used among Christians until the church became 
corrupted. It was much used in the worship of 
the Israelites under the old law, and was well 
suited to an outward^ shadowy dispensation, 
when the Deity, in condescension to the igno- 
rance and weakness of the people, was pleased 
to manifest himself in an outward temple made 
with hands. But we live under a spiritual dis- 
pensation, and are taught to believe, that " the 
Lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not in tem- 
ples made with hands, neither is worshipped 
zvith inert s handsj as though he needed any 
thing; seeing that he giveth to all life, and 
breath, and all things; that they should seek the 
Lord, if haply they might feel after hiTn and, 
find him ; though he is not far from any one 
of us, for in him we live, and move, and have 
our being.^^ Acts svii. 24-28. 

Music may have a tendency to allay the pas- 
sions, and to quell for a moment the unsancti- 
fied desires of the human heart; but its influ- 
ence is only temporary ; for no sooner have its 
sound.T ceased to vibrate on the ear, than the 
appetites and passions awake from their slum- 
bers with unabated strength. Even the melody 
of David's harp, could only soothe for a while 
the evil spirit of Saul — it had no influence in 



64 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

changing his heart. The object of Christ's 
reign is not to send peace on earth, by soothing 
the passions of meUy but a sword, to subdue 
them and bring them under right government. 
He comes to slay, that he may make alive again ; 
to subjugate the will of man, in order that his 
divine will may be done in us,. and to bring all 
our faculties, desires, and aflfections, under the 
government of his Holy Spirit. The pomp of 
ceremonies, the splendour of decorations, and 
the " pealing anthems'' of the organ, are not 
consistent with the simplicity of spiritual wor- 
ship, nor with the character and precepts of the 
meek and lowly Jesus. 

It appears that the primitive Christians did 
sometimes sing psalms or spiritual songs, but the 
scriptures do not inform us whether it was al- 
ways a part of their public worship, nor do they 
mention whether more than one person at a time 
was engaged in the service. It seems, from 
some expressions of the apostle Paul, that their 
mode of worship in the church at Corinth was 
different from any that now prevails in Christen- 
dom. He says, " When you come together, 
everi/ one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, 
hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an inter- 
pretation. Let all things be done unto edifying 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 65 

If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it 
be by two^ or at most by three, and that hy 
course, and let another interpret. But if there 
be no interpreter^ let him keep silence in the 
church, and let him speak to himself and to 
God. Let the prophets speak two or three, and 
let the others judge. If any thing be revealed 
to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his 
peace; for ye moi/ all prophesi/ one hy one, that 
all may hear, and all may be comforted.^^ 1 
Cor. xiv. 26-31. 

He also mentions singing, in two other of his 
epistles. He says, '^Be not drunk with wine, 
wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit^ 
speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, 
and spiritual songs, making melody in your 
hearts unto the Lord.^' Eph. v. 18, 19. Again 
he says, '•^ Let the icord of Christ dwell in you 
richly in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing 
one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual 
songs; singing with grace in your hearts to the 
Lord.^^ Col. iii. 16. In these passages it is 
observable that he is careful to mention that 
they must be filled with the spirit or word of 
'Jhrist; and I think there is no doubt that their 
Bongs of praise and thanksgiving were dictated 
by it, just as much as their praying and prophe- 
6* E 



66 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

eying. Every act of worship that proceeds 
from the influence of the Holy Spirit, is spirit- 
ual worship ; and every act that proceeds from 
the will and wisdom of man, is ^^ will worship ;" 
the former is enjoined upon us; but the latter 
is expressly forbidden. Col. ii. 23. 

We are recommended in the scriptures, not 
to neglect the a^^sembling of ourselves together ) 
and Christ has declared, " Where two or three 
are gathered together in my name, there am I 
in the midst of them." He also says, ^^ With- 
out me ye can do nothing." Now, does it not 
follow that when we are assembled together, we 
must wait in silence until we feel his power and 
presence to direct and assist us? For '^obedience 
is better than sacrifice, and to hearken^ than the 
fat of rams." They who act upon any other 
principle than this, appear to me to be like those 
who urged Jesus to go up to the feast : but he 
replied, '^ My time is not yet come : your time 
is always ready. The world cannot hate you, 
but me it hateth, because I testify of it that 
the works thereof are evil." John vii. 6, 7. 

John. I should think it very uncharitable to 
say, that nearly all the worship that now pre- 
vails in Chri^endom is evil; for I am certain 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 67 

that there are many pious men in every Chris- 
tian sect. 

Father. I do not say their worship is evil ; for 
I hope and believe much of it is accepted in 
the Divine sight. He who beholds the hearts 
of all men, has graciously promised, ^* To that 
man will I look, even to him that is poor and 
of a contrite spirit^ and that trembleth at my 
word." There is a dead form of silence, as well 
as a dead form of words ; and it is equally of- 
fensive in the Divine sight. They who merely 
sit in outward silence, pretending to present 
their bodies before the Lord, while their hearts 
are far from him, and their thoughts wandering 
in pursuit of earthly objects, are assembling in 
a dead form. 

John. Is this dead form as dangerous as the 
other ? 

Father. In one respect I think it is not so 
dangerous ; it does not encourage the practice 
of using improperly the words of holy men, and 
the promises of scripture. That which was 
true in the mouth of a saint, may be a falsehood 
in the mouth of a sinner. 

James. Yes 3 I have often been struck with 
the impropriety of that practice, and I beli<^?e 
it not improbable, that many a well-meaning man 



68 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

utters more falsehoods in time of worship than 
in all the week besides. 

Father, There are some hymns of such a 
general character, that almost any pious man 
may join in them without a breach of veracity; 
but it does not follow that they will always suit 
the state of his mind. There are other hymns 
and psalms which describe particular states of 
mind, and contain the expression of particular 
feelings and desires, which can only be sung with 
truth by those who are in the same state of 
mind. For instance, when David says, "As the 
liart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth 
my soul after thee, God. Mi/ tears have been 
my meat day and night, while they say unto me 
continually, AYhere is thy God ?" Psalms xlii. 
1, 3. 

Now, how many singers arc there in most con- 
gregations that can sing this psalm without 
departing from the truth ? For those who are 
mourning, to sing the songs of joy, and for those 
who are rejoicing, to join the wail of sorrow, is 
equally inconsistent. He who joins a choir to 
sing in public, is expected to sing every thing 
that is selected for them ; no matter how dis- 
cordant his feelings may be, if his voice be har- 
monious, nothing more is required : and what 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 69 

is worse than all, persons who have musical 
talents are often induced to join the chcir, while 
their hearts are unrenewed, and sometimes even 
while their moral characters are notoriously im 
pure. 

How offensive must it be to that omnipresent 
and holy Being, ^^ who is of purer eyes than to 
behold iniquity,'' when he looks upon this sol- 
emn mockery, this approaching with the lips, 
while the heart is far from him ! Will he not 
say to such persons, as he did to the Jews form- 
erly, " Who has required this at your hands, to 
tread my courts ? Bring no more vain obla- 
tions, incense is an abomination unto me, the 
new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assem- 
blies I cannot away with ; it is iniquity, even 
the solemn meeting/' Under the old law, he 
who had touched a dead body, or an unclean 
beast, was not allowed to come into the congre- 
gation until he was purified; much less could he 
participate in an act of worship : and shall they 
who are " living in pleasures, and who are dead 
while they live," take an active part in public 
worship, under a more spiritual dispensation ? 
It is evident that such cannot drink of the -^uj: 
that Christ drank of, nor are they baptized with 
his baptism; and if they partake of the outward 



70 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

form while they deny and reject the life and 
substance, do they not drink unworthily to their 
own condemnation ? These remarks will not 
appl}^ to those sincere and pious worshippers 
who are really hungering and thirsting after 
righteousness; for unto them there always will 
be a blessing. But to this cla§s I would seri- 
ously address the inquiry, whether that worship 
which is offered up in the will and wisdom ot 
man, is not calculated to keep alive that will 
and to nourish that wisdom by which it is per- 
formed ? Now we know that our wills must be 
subjected to the Divine will, and we are taught 
that ^' the wisdom of man is foolishness with 
God," when applied to spiritual things. '' The 
kingdom of God is within you,'' says Christ; 
and it is altogether reasonable that he should be 
known, and obeyed, and icorMppedy in his 
kingdom. If he veils his presence from us, — 
as he often does, — then we must wait upon him. 
"• I wait for the Lord,'' says the psalmist, **' my 
soul doth icait — my soul waiteth for the Lord, 
uiore than they that watch for the morning." — 
Ps. cxxx. 5, G. The psalms of David, the wri- 
tings of the prophets, the discourses of Jesus, 
and the epistles of Paul, contain a great many 
exhortations to wait upon the Lold, and Jearn 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 71 

of him. And John, the beloved apostle, writes 
to the Christians of his day, and tells them, 
''The anointing which ye have received of him 
iibideth in you, and ye Jieed not that any man 
teach you : but as the sanie anointing teacheth 
you of all things, and is truth and is no lie, and 
even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in 
him." 1 John ii. 27. 

It is also said in many places in the scrip- 
tures, that Christ himself shall be the prophet, 
the leader, and the teacher of his people ; for 
he alone is the true '* shepherd and bishop of 
/Souls. '^ Now while we have such exceeding 
^reat and precious promises, how unwise are 
they who '^ compass themselves about with sparks 
of their own kindling,'^ instead of waiting in 
patience for the Divine influence to enable them 
to worship in spirit and in truth. 

If Christ be the teacher of Jiis people, they 
that would learn of him must sometimes learn 
in silence; for, if we are always thinking our 
own thoughts, and speaking our own words, or 
those of others, we cannot hear the instructions 
that are conveyed to the soul by the impressions 
of the Divine spirit. 

If Christians of different denominations, can- 
not, at present, see the propriety of giving up 



72 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

their stated forms of prayer and praise, I am 
persuaded they would derive great advantage 
from appropriating a part of the time of their 
religious meetings to silent waiting upon God: 
it would give greater life and solemnity to the 
rest of their worship ; and, independently of 
all other considerations, they would find it a 
most excellent discipline for the mind. 

John. I find by experience, that when I wish 
to consider any thing attentively, I can do it 
best in silence; and it seems reasonable that 
our tongues should be still, when we undertake 
to examine our hearts.* 

* A late writer, in speaking of what is termed *'the 
Lord's Supper," makes this remark: "In all other 
instances of social worship, your attention is required 
witliout ceasing, to some external process, and you 
pass on from one part of the service to another with 
little opportunity to reflect as you proceed, or to pur- 
sue the suggestions which are made, in the manner 
that your own peculiar condition may require. But 
in this, the leisure is given for thoroughly applying to 
your own personal state, all that has met your ear, 
and for pouring out freely the devotional feeling which 
has been excited. And if there be any thing favora- 
ble to the soul, as multitudes of devout persons have 
insisted, in occasions for contemplative worship in the 
presence of other men^ then in this respect the Lord's 
Supper may claim a superiority over every other sea- 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 73 

Father. There is a very instructive fact men- 
tioned in the history of the prophet Elijah, when 
he was in a cave on Mount Horeb. He was com- 
manded to go forth and stand upon the mount 
before the Lord. ^^And behold the Lord passed 
by, and a great and strong wind rent the moun- 
tain, and brake in pieces the rocks before the 
Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind : and 
after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was 
not in the earthquake : and after the earthquake 
a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire : and 
after the fire, a still small voice. And it was 
so when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his 
face in his mantle and went out and stood in 
the entering in of the cave. And behold there 
came a voice unto him and said. What doest 
thou here, Elijah ? ^^ Thus it appears that Eli- 
jah knew that the word of the Lord (to which 
ho had long been accustomed) was not to be 
heard in the noise and confusion of the outward 
elements, — but as soon as he heard the still 
small voice he wrapped his face in his mantle 
and listened to the Divine monitor. We have 

son of social devotion." Now, if the pauses which 
occur during the administration of the Supper are 
found to be so salutary, why may they not be introduced 
at other times with equal advantage ? 
7 



74 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

no reason to believe, that this ^^ word of the 
Lord" which came to the prophets, was conveyed 
in sounds to the outward ear; for God is a spirit, 
and the soul of man is spiritual ; therefore the 
word by which he speaks to the soul is also 
spiritual. 

The apostle Paul writes to the Coriothians, 
saying, ^' Know ye not that ye are the temple of 
God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in 
you ? If any man defile the temple of God, 
him shall God destroy ; for the temple of God 
is holy, which temple ye are/' 1 Corinth, iii. 

16,17. 

And the apostle Peter advises the Christians 
of his day, to ^' desire the sincere milk of the 
word, that/' says he, " ye may grow thereby. 
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gra- 
cious. To whom coming as unto a living stone, 
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God 
and precious; ye also as livelj' stones are bpilt 
up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer 
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by 
Jesus Christ." 1 Peter ii. 3-G. Thus it ap- 
pears that the soul of man is the temple of God, 
and that his church is a spiritual hause, built 
up of living stones, of whom Jesus Christ is 
the " chief corner stone, elect and precious/' 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 75 

The temple of Solomon, witli all its glory, waa 
but a faint emblem or figure of this spiritual 
house which God is preparing for himself tc 
dwell in, and in which he manifests his glory 
and his power. 

It is written of Solomon's temple, that '' it 
was built of stone made ready before it was 
brought thither: so that there teas neither ham- 
mei^ nor oxe, nor any tool of iron^ heardj in the 
house while it was in building/' 1 Kings vi. 7. 
How striking a figure was this of the beautiful 
order and holy solemnity that ought to prevail, 
when the living stones are brought together in 
the assemblies of God's people ! When we ap- 
proach his awful presence to worship him in 
spirit and in truth, we should be careful not to 
employ the tools or ceremonies of man's inven- 
tion ; for the Lord, in directing his chosen peo- 
ple to build an altar, said, '^ An altar of earth 
shalt thou build unto me, and shalt sacrifice 
thereon thy burnt ofi'erings and thy peace-offer- 
ings : and if thou wilt make me an altar of 
stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone : 
for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast 
polluted it.'' Exodus xx. 24. Deut. xxvii. 5. 

The offerings in God's temple are no longer 
of an outward nature, for ^' he is not ivorshipped 



76 ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 

with men's hands, as though he needed any 
thing/' He requires us to give him the '^ first 
fruits" of all that we possess : we must serve 
him before all others, and give him the first 
place in our affections. The sacrifice which he 
accepteth is ^^ a broken and a contrite spirit ;'' 
and the smoke of the incense'which ascends up 
before him, is " the praters of the saints." Rev. 
viii. 3. 

I shall conclude this subject with a quotation 
from the writings of that great and good man, 
William Penn. " If," says he, " we are not to 
take thought what we shall say when we come 
before worldly princes, because it shall be given 
us, and that it is not we that speak, but the spirit 
of our Heavenly Father that speaketh in us; 
(Matt. X. 20,) mu^ less can our ability be 
needed, or ought we'lo study to ourselves forms 
of speech in our approaches to the great Prince 
of princes. King of kings, and Lord of lords. 
The psalmist says, ^ Lord, thou hast heard the 
desire of the humble, thou wilt prepare their 
heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear ;' and 
says Wisdom, ' The preparation of the heart in 
man, and the answer of the tongue is from the 
Lord.' Here it is : thou must not think thy 
own thoughts, nor speak thy own words ; which 



ON DIVINE WORSHIP. 77 

indeed is the silence of the holy cross; but be 
sequestered from all confused imaginations, that 
are apt to throng and press upon the mind in 
those holy retirements. It is not for thee to 
think to overcome the Almighty by the most 
composed matter cast into the aptest phrase : — 
nO; no, — one groan, one sigh from a wounded 
soul; a heart touched with true remorse, a sin- 
cere and godly, sorrow, which is the work of 
God's spirit, excels and prevails with God. — 
Wherefore, stand still in thy mind ; wait to feel 
something that is divine to prepare and dispose 
thee to worship God truly and acceptably. And 
thus taking up the cross, and shutting the doora 
and windows of the soul against every thing 
that would interrupt this attendance upon God,— 
how pleasant soever the object be in itself, — how 
lawful and needful at another season, — the 
power of the Almighty will break in, — his spirit 
will work and prepare the heart, that it may 
offer up an acceptable sacrifice.^' 

7* 



CONVERSATION HI. 



ON THE ORIGINAL AND PRESENT STATE 

OF MAN. 

James, Brother John and I have lately been 
conversing about the original and present state 
of man, but we cannot agree in opinion, and 
have concluded to ask thy views upon the sub- 
ject. He contends, that the transgression of 
Adam, in eating the forbidden fruit, produced 
an entire change in the nature of man, so that 
we are all born in a corrupt and sinful state ; 
and that we are liable to punishment, not only 
for our own transgressions, but likewise on ac- 
count of the guilt of our first parents, which he 
says is imputed to all their offspring. This doc- 
trine I cannot believe ; for it appears to me to be 
entirely inconsistent with the justice and mercy 
of the Divine Being, to impute to me a sin 
which I never committed ; nor can I under- 
stand how the nature of man could be so com- 
pletely changed by that one transgression of 

(79) 



80 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

Adam; for we do not find any inherent differ- 
ence now between the children of the righteous 
and the children of the wicked; they appear to 
be all born in the same state, tliough it is ac- 
knowledged that the example and teaching of the 
parents have a great influence upon their cha- 
racters.* 

John. I do not reason in this way upon sub- 
jects of so momentous a character, but am con- 
tent to refer to the scriptures of truth, which, 
being written by inspired men, are a much 
safer dependence than the fallible reason of 
man. 

Father. I believe that all scripture, " given 
by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness; that the man of God may be 
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
works. ^' The truths contained in the scriptures, 
if properly understood and made the rule of our 
actions, are of inestimable value to man ; but 
it is very evident that they cannot be understood 
without the exercise of reason ; for a man de- 



* The author does not deny that the dispositions and 
propensities of parents are often transmitted to theii 
children, and that a race becomes degraded l^ a per 
Bistence in vice through several generatitina. 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. ^ 81 

prived of reason could not derive the least ben- 
efit from them. They are addressed to the 
understandings of men ; but owing to the imper- 
. fection of human language, they are liable to 
be misunderstood, especially by those who have 
no experimental knowledge of the things to 
which they relate. The most valuable parts of 
scripture are those which relate to spiritual 
things ; but in order to understand them clearly, 
we must come to the knowledge of the things 
themselves. When we undertake to study any 
natural science, we are not satisfied with merely 
reading descriptions of natural objects, but we exa- 
mine the objects for ourselves. For instance, the 
science of botany describes the various plants 
and flowers which the great Creator has so 
profusely scattered over the face of the 
earth 3 but we cannot obtain an accurate knowl- 
edge of them, merely by reading descriptions; 
we must ourselves examine the things described; 
and in order to do this, we must have light to 
assist us. Now this is the course we ought to 
pursue in the examination of spiritual things. The 
scriptures inform us, that "the kingdom of God 
is within us,'^ and that it consists of "righteous- 
ness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.'' But 
what will this description avail jis, unless we 



82 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

look within us to find these things, and become 
obedient to the teachings of the Holy Spirit, 
whose light will make them manifest ? There 
is much useful information in the scriptures, about 
the state of original purity in which man was 
created ; the state of sin and corruption into which 
he has fallen by disobedience*; and the state of 
restoration and salvation which is obtained by 
the faithful servants of Christ. This informa- 
tion is sometimes conveyed in plain and simple 
precepts, which may be understood literally; but 
it is often adorned with metaphors, and not un- 
frequently it is clothed in parables or allegories, 
according to the genius of the oriental languages. 
It is well known that Jesus frequently spake in 
parables, which were not generally understood 
by the multitude, and that he explained their 
meaning to his disciples. But even to his dis- 
ciples he did not open every thing at once, for 
he said, ^' I have many things to say unto you, 
but ye cannot bear them now." There are 
many pious men, who do not doubt that the 
account given by Moses of the garden of Eden 
and the fall of our first parents, is literally true, 
yet they believe it has in it a spiritual significa 
tion of far more importance to us. 

John. I am afraid to depend upon these spi- 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 83 

ritual significations, lest I shuuld overlook the 
literal meaning of the text, and thus convert 
the whole Bible into an allegory. When any 
thing is stated as parable, I am then willing to 
look for a spiritual meaning, but not otherwise. 
Father. It appears that the apostle Paul was 
of a different opinion ; for he says, when speak- 
ing of the two sons which were born unto Abra- 
ham, that they were " an allegory'^ of '' the two 
covenants/' Gal. iv. 24. Yet Moses does not 
say it is an allegory, but relates it as a matter 
of history ; and I have no doubt the facts did 
occur just as Moses has stated them, and that 
the spiritual meaning revealed to the apostle is 
equally true. It will be acknowledged by almost 
every experienced mind, that the account given 
by Moses of the journeying of the Israelites 
from Egypt through the wilderness to the pro- 
mised land, contains a faithful and beautiful 
allegory of the Christian's progress from a state 
of darkness and sin, to a state of gospel light 
and salvation ; yet who can suppose that this 
view of the subject impairs our belief of the 
facts related by Mcses ? With respect to the 
garden of Eden, in which man was originally 
placed when he was created, there can be no 
doubt that the account given by the inspired 



84 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

penman, is beautifully descriptive of that state 
of spiritual enjoyment which resulted to Adam 
from his dressing and keeping the trees of the 
garden ; or, in other words, from his keeping in 
their proper order all the desires and affections 
of his animal and spiritual natures, which were 
given for the promotion of. his happiness, and 
pronounced to be good. That the garden of 
Eden was considered among the holy men of 
old, as a state of spiritual enjoyment, we have 
an evidence in the writings of the prophet Eze- 
kiel; for he says, in addressing the king of 
Tyrus, '^ Thus saith the Lord God, Thou sealest 
up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 
Thou hast been in Uden, the garden of the 
Lord ; every precious stone was thy covering, 
the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the 
beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, 
the emerald, the carbuncle, and gold ; the work- 
manship of thy tabrets and thy pipes was pre- 
pared in thee in the day that thou icast created. 
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and 
I have set thee so : thou wast upon the holy 
mountain of God ; thou hast walked up and 
down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou 
wast perfect in thy icays from the day thou wast 
created J till iniquity was found in thee." Ezek. 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 85 

xxviii. 12 to 16. Behold, what a state of purity 
and wisdom was here, and that too "from the 
day he was created !'^ But he fell from this 
state of righteousness ; for the prophet goes on 
to say, " By the multitude of thy merchandize 
they have filled the midst of thee with violence, 
and thou hast sinned. Therefore I will cast 
thee as profane out of the mountain of God ; 
and I will destroy thee, covering cherub, from 
the midst of the stones of fire V^ 

James. There is a very striking resemblance 
between the state here described, and that of 
our first parents as represented by Moses : for 
it appears that this king of Tyrus had " been in 
Eden, the garden of God ]'^ that he was " full 
of wisdom and perfect in beauty/' and that he 
was ^^ perfect in his icays from the day he was 
created, till iniquity was found in him.'' And 
it appears, too, that his punishment was similar 
to that of Adam ; for he was " cast as profane out 
of the mountain of God." Now it becomes an 
interesting inquiry with me, whether thft cause 
of his fill was not similar to that of Adam, and 
whether all men are not, like him, created pure 
and innocentj by the great Author of our being: 
for " have we not all one Father f' and " hath 
not one God created us ?" Mai. ii. 10. And if 
8 



86 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

God is " the Father of spirits/^ as the apostl© 
te^itifies, (Heb. xii. 9,) must not our souls 
come pure out of his hands ? 

Father. The first of these inquiries, in rela- 
tion to the manner in which the king of Tyrus 
fell from his state of purity, is answered by the 
prophet Ezekiel. ^*Thus saith the Lord God, 
Because tliy heart is lifted up, and thou hast 
said, I am a God ; I sit in the seat of God, in 
the midst of the seas ] yet thou art a man, and 
not God, though thou set thy heart as the heart 
of God." Now it appears that the sin of our 
first parents was somewhat analagous to this; 
for they were induced to believe that they 
"should be as Gods, knowing good and evil/' 
and after they had yielded to the temptation, 
*^ the Ijovd God said. Behold, the man is become 
as one of us, to know good and evil." Genesis 
iii. 5, 23. 

James. There is a difficulty with me in under- 
standing what Moses has said about the tree of 
tliC knowledge of good and evil, which was 
placed in the midift of the garden, and of which 
our first parents were forbidden to cat; for this 
fippears to me like placing a temptation before 
them; and yet the apostle James has said, 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 8'^ 

' God cannot be tempted with evil, neither 
tempteth he any manJ^ 

John. I cannot see that the difficulty would 
be removed, by saying that the tree here spoken 
of was some evil principle in the mind of Adam : 
for all his principles before the fall were derived 
from above. It appears to me that the tempta- 
tion was suggested by the serpent, who was only 
an instrument of Satan, and endowed by him 
with a miraculous power of speech and reason. 
We are told that the evil one has the power of 
'^ transforming himself into an angel of light;" 
and therefore it was in his power to assume the 
form of a serpent, in order to effect his malicious 
designs. 

James. As far as my own experience is con- 
cerned, I have no evidence of an evil spirit as 
existing separately from man ; all my tempta- 
tions have arisen from the perverted appetites 
and desires of my own nature, which are some- 
times so disguised by self-love as to appear like 
ministers of happiness, or angels of light. 

Father. I do not think we shall gain any 
thing by discussing the much-debated question 
about the existence of a devil : for, whether 
there be an evil spirit separate from man or not, 
I think it is very clear that unless our first pa- 



88 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

rents had possessed in themselves a desire for 
the forbidden fruit, no persuasions of a disguised 
enemy could have induced them to eat it, con- 
trary to the Divine prohibition. A person with 
no appetite for food, would never fall into the 
vice of gluttony, especially if he knew that it 
would destroy his life. It is said, ^' The woman 
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it 
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to he desired 
to make one wise.^* Consequently she had an 
appetite or desire to partake of its fruit. This 
tree must have been created good, and intended 
for some good purpose ] for when the work of 
creation was finished, " God saw every thing he 
had made, and behold it was very good.'' Now 
let us recur to our own txperience, and we shall 
find that all our animal appetites, and all our 
mental desires and aftections, are not only ne- 
cessary to our existence, but conductive to our 
happiness, when kept vuder the government of 
the Divine Spirit, which gives life to the soul. 
It is only when they are perverted from their 
original purpose that they become instruments 
of evil. Adam was created in the image of 
God ; that is to say, his mind was like the Divine 
mind, full of purity, benevolence, and joy; and 
he enjoyed the privilege of spiritual commu- 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 89 

nion with Grod ; which is to partake of ^^ the 
tree of life, which is in the midst of the para- 
dise of God/^ Eev. ii. 7. But, although he 
was made a free agent, he was not intended to 
be so independent of God as to know of him- 
self what was good and what was evil, without 
waiting for Divine direction. And when he 
presumed to set up his own will, and to be 
governed by it in opposition to the Divine will, 
he assumed the place of God ; and having thus 
turned away from the Holy Spirit, he ceased to 
partake of " the tree of life j^' and, consequently, 
he died a spiritual death. It was thus that he 
experienced the fulfilment of the Divine predic- 
tion, "//i the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt 
surely die;^' for, ^'to he carnally minded is 
death; but to be spiritually minded is life and 
peace.'' But in this state of alienation from 
God, Adam was not deserted by the mercy of 
his heavenly Parent; for he felt ^^ the reproofs 
of instruction, which are the way of life.'' 
That same Divine Word which had been his 
joy and his consolation while in a state of inno- 
cence, now became his reprover and his chastener. 
It was to him as " a flaming sword, turning every 
way to keep the way of the tree of life,*' and 
to exclude him from the garden of Eden, which 



90 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

he was no longer worthy to enjoy. Every one 
who has attended to his own experience, knows 
what it is to be condemned for deviating from 
a known duty; how completely it shuts him out 
from a state of enjoyment, and prevents him 
from partaking of that peace of mind which is 
the reward of obedience. '^ For the word of 
God is quick and powerful, and sharper than 
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divi- 
ding asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints 
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts 
and intents of the heart. Neither is there any 
creature that is not manifest in his sight; but 
all things are naked and open unto the eyes of 
him with whom we have to do.'' Heb. iv. 12. 
How merciful, how beneficent, is the Divine 
Author of our being, that he will not suffer us 
to rest in peace, while in a state of disobedience 
to his holy law ! For in this state of alienation 
from him we never could be happy. 

The happiness of man, both here and here- 
after, is not made to depend upon any extraneous 
circumstances, such as the possession of an out- 
ward garden ; but it depends upon the state of 
his mind, and the government of his affections. 
God is perfectly happy and beneficent himself, 
and he wills that all his creatures should be 



PRESENT STATE OP MAN. 91 

happy ; but it is impossible for any to partici- 
pate in his happiness, without becoming in some 
degree '^ partakers of his nature/^ and by the 
operations of the Holy Spirit, being renewed 
into the image of God, in which we were 
created. 

John. This view of the subject is very differ- 
ent from the one I have always entertained, and 
it appears to me to be inconsistent with many 
passages in the scriptures of truth, as well as 
some facts in the present condition of man, 
which I shall endeavour to state. In the first 
place, man being created in the image of God, 
he must have been immortal; not subject to 
disease nor death, until he tasted the fruit of 
'^ that -forbidden tree, whose mortal taste brought 
death into the world, with all our woe." But, 
having broken the Divine command, he incurred 
the penalty of death ; which sentence was passed 
upon him when he was expelled from the gar- 
den, but the execution of the sentence was de- 
ferred for a long period ; and he was doomed to 
eat his bread in the sweat of his face, till he 
returned unto the ground from whence he was 
taken. 

Secondly. When Adam had eaten of this 
forbidden fruit, he lost the Divine image of 



92 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

holiness, wisdom, and immortality; and while 
in this state, his children were born unto him 
in his own image of fallen nature; consequently, 
they must have been born in a state of sin and 
subject to mortality. 

Thirdly. There are many passages in the 
scriptures to confirm these views of the inherent 
depravity of man, through the sin of Adam 
King David says, "I was shapen in iniquity, 
and in sin did my mother conceive me/' And 
again, he says of the children of men, '' They 
are all gone aside ; they are altogether become 
filthy; there is none that doeth good, no not 
one.'' The apostle says, '^ We were by nature 
the children of wrath, even as others." It is 
also said in relation to the world before the flood, 
that " God saw that the wickedness of man was 
great in the earth, and that every imagination 
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con- 
tinually." That this state of depravity was 
owing to the sin of Adam, may be inferred from 
the writings of the apostle Paul ; for he says, 
*^As by one man sin entered into the world, and 
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, 
for that all have sinned." Again he says, "As 
by one man^s disobedience many were made sin- 
ners, so by the obedience of one shall many be 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 93 

made righteous :'' foi; "as in Adam all die, even 
60 in Christ shall all be made alive/^ That God 
does impute the sins of the parents to the chil- 
dren, may be proved from his dealings with the 
children of Israel ; for he said he would " visit 
the sins of the fathers upon the children, to the 
third and fourth generation/' 

Lastly. I think these views are coniSrmed, by 
observing the actual condition of mankind in 
the world around us. See how much misery 
there is, resulting from depravity and sin ; what 
raging passions desolate the moral world; what 
horrid crimes pollute the characters of men ! 
Surely the destroyer has been here, and has left 
only a wreck behind, of all that was once so 
fair and beautiful. Nor is the corruption that 
reigns around us confined to the adult and the 
aged ; even children seem to partake of it, and 
the first developments of character are marked 
with anger and impatience. 

Father. I shall endeavour to answer these ob- 
jections in the order in which they have been 
stated. And first: I agree that man, being in 
the Divine image, must have been immortal; 
but what part of him was made in the image of 
Grod ? Surely it was not his earthly body ; for 
'* God is a Spirit, ' and " no man hath seen his 



94 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

shape at any time/' I consider the bodj as the 
tabernacle or house in which the immortal soul 
dwells, during its state of probation, and I be- 
lieve it was so considered bj the inspired pen- 
men ; for Paul speaks of " our earthly house of 
this tabernacle being dissolved/' 2 Cor. v. 1. 
To say that the sentence of death was passed 
upon Adam when he was driven from paradise, 
but the execution of the sentence was postponed 
for about nine hundred years, seems to me to 
be a very imperfect fulfilment of the Divine 
prediction, " In the day thou eatest thereof thou 
shalt surely die/' Let us suppose that Adam 
and all his posterity had continued in the body 
until the present period, and that they had gone 
on to " multiply and replenish the earth," with- 
out any being removed by death ; where would 
the countless myriads have found room for ex- 
istence ? I have no idea that the human body 
was ever intended to be immortal ; for it was 
made of earthly materials, which are subject to 
decay ; and we know that our bodies are con- 
tinually changing by absorption and secretion, so 
that the particles which composed them at one 
period of life, are entirely removed at another. 
I do not think the mortality of our bodies is 
any proof of our being born in a state of sin; 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 95 

for even the holy body of the Messiah was 
liable to death, or else he could not have been 
slain. He called his body his temple, saying, 
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will 
raise it up/^ When I say that " the wages of 
sin is death'^ to the soul, I do not mean that the 
soul of the sinner ceases to exist, but that it 
ceases to be actuated by the Spirit of God, who 
is the life of the righteous soul : for it is said 
in the scriptures, that "they who are living in 
pleasures, are dead while they live/^ They have 
lost the influence of Divine life, and are like 
withered branches, ready to be cut off. 

The second objection is founded on the chil- 
dren being born in the image of their parents. 
Now it is not said in Genesis, that Adam's chil- 
dren were all born in his image ; for Seth is the 
only one mentioned as being born in his father's 
likeness. It is not an unusual thing, in the pre- 
sent day, for a child to bear the image of his 
father stamped on his person ; but who among 
us would be so unjust as to impute to children 
the guilt of their parents, from a circumstance 
like this ? It is said in the apocryphal book of 
the wisdom of Solomon, that by Divine Wisdom 
^^ the first formed father of the world was brought 
out of his fall;'' and if any of his children 



96 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

were born after he was thus restored to the Di 
vine image, can we suppose that these would be 
purer than the rest? I do not think thev 
would, for we find no such effects in the present 
day. 

I believe that every soul is the immediate gift 
and creation of God, agreeable to scripture tes- 
timony, '' The dust shall return to the earth as 
it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who 
gave it*' Ecc. xii. 7. If therefore the soul or 
spirit of man be the gift of God, it must come 
pure out of his hands. 

The third objection rests upon passages of 
scripture, all of which admit of a different inter- 
pretation, and one that is far more consistent 
with the character of a wise and benevolent 
Creator. A number of these passages speak in 
general terms of the whole human race, as being 
in a corrupt or fallen state, which I readily grant 
was true; but the scriptures themselves men- 
tion a number of exceptions. For instance, it 
is said of man before the flood, that '^ every imagi- 
nation of the thoughts of his heart was only 
evil continually;" and that "God looked upon 
the earth, and behold it was corrupt; for all 
flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.*' ^^ 
Yet it is said in the same chapter, that Noah, 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN 9'^ 

who was then living, was '' a just man, and 
perfect in his generation/' and that ''Noah 
walked with, God.^' 

It is very common, even now, to speak of 
cities and nations in general terms, and to give 
to a whole people the character which we think 
generally prevails among them ; but no one sup- 
poses that, in such cases, there are not many 
exceptions. For my own part, I believe that 
there always have been good people in every age 
of the world, and that many who have passed 
through life unnoticed in the vale of obscurity, 
are now enjoying their reward in heaven. There 
are a great many excellent characters mentioned 
in the Bible, and some who are represented as 
perfect. '' Enoch walked with God three hun- 
dred years, and he was not, for God took him/' 
'^Noah was a just man, and perfect in his gene- 
ration.'' Job was '' perfect and upright," and 
one that feared God and eschewed evil." It is 
said of Abraham, that he " obeyed the voice of 
God, and kept his commandments, and his sta- 
tutes, and his laws." Gen. xxvi. 5. And he 
obtained the dignified title of " the friend of 
God." James ii. 23. The character of Joseph 
appears to have been without blemish, and it is 
said, '' The Lord was with him.'^ The prophet 
9 G 



98 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

Samuel was called in childhood to the service 
of God, and served him all his days. 

It appears that there were good men in the 
days of king David, for he says, '^ Mark the 
'perfect man, and behold fhe npriyht, for the end 
of that man is peace." There is reason to be- 
lieve that Elijah was a perfect man, for he was 
translated; and Daniel, and some others of the 
prophets, appear to have lived in great favour 
with God. If such a state of perfection was 
attained by some before the Christian dispensa- 
tion, may we not conclude that there have been 
a still greater number of such characters 
since ? 

There is not a single passage in the scriptures, 
which says that the guilt of Adam is imputed to 
his offspring; — they do not even prove that 
there is any inherent depravity in man. The 
expressions of David, where he says, "I was 
shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother 
conceive me," (Ps. li. 5,) were uttered at a time 
when he was under deep conviction for actual 
transgression ; but if they must be taken lite- 
rally, they only prove that his mother was a 
sinner. 

What is sin ? Is it not " the transgression of 
the law T and " where there is no law, there is 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 9«l 

no transgression/^ Jesus said of the Jews, "If 
I had not come and spoken unto them, they had 
not had sin; but now they have no cloak for 
their sin/^ John xv. 22. The spirit of Christ 
still makes known to every man his duty ; and 
until we disobey him, ice have no sin. It is 
true that it is said, " By the disobedience of one 
man many have been made sinners ;'^ but this 
expression may be applied to others besides 
Adam. It is said of Jeroboam the son of Ne- 
bat, that he ^^ made Israel to sin;'^ and that 
" the children of Israel walked in all the sins 
of Jeroboam which he did ; they departed not 
from them.'^ Whereas it is said, that Josiah 
^^ made all that were present in Israel to serve 
the Lord their God ; and all his days they de- 
parted not from following the Lord, the God of 
their fathers.^' Now, when we consider the re- 
lation in which Adam stood to the human family, 
it is not surprising that many of them should 
follow his early example ; and that these again 
should influence others to swerve from the path 
of rectitude. Such a result is perfectly con- 
sistent with what we know of the character of 
man. 

The apostle Paul, after speaking of " the 
children >/ disohedience,''^ (Eph. ii. 8,) says, 



100 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

" Among whom we also had our conversation in 
times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling 
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and 
were hy nature the children of wrath, even as 
others.^'' But in another place, the same apostle 
says, *^ The Gentiles which have not the law, do 
hy nature the things contained in the laic; these 
having not the law, are a law unto themselves ; 
which show forth the works of the law written 
in their hearts/' Rom. ii. 14. 

Now, if the first of these texts proves that 
eome men have been sinners " by nature,'^ the 
second one proves that others have been right- 
eous "by nature." I understand the apostle's 
doctrine to be, that when we '^fulfil the desires 
of the flesh and of the mind,'' we come into 
the nature of the children of wrath, who are 
the children of disobedience 3 but when we 
show forth the works of the Divine law written 
in our hearts, we become " partakers of the 
Divine nature.'' " As by one man sin entered 
into the world, and death by sin, and so death 
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.^' 
Here the reason is assigned why spiritual death 
hath passed upon all men; it is because all have 
sinned, and not because of any imputed guilt. 
And the same apostle has said, that " as in 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 101 

Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive/' He does not say that we all died in 
Adam; but he speaks in the present tenscj and 
says, *^ In Adam all die/' Now let us considei 
what nature it is that we have derived from 
Adam. Is it not our animal nature ? It can- 
not be our spiritual nature ; for God only is 
^' the Father of spirits.'' Heb. xii. 9. If, then, 
we are governed by this animal or earthly na- 
ture which we derive from Adam, we die; for 
^^ to be carnally minded is death ;" but if we 
become obedient to ^^the law of the spirit of 
life in Christ Jesus," we shall live ; for to " be 
spiritually minded is life and peace." The 
name Adam, signifies earthy; and the apostle 
says, '^ The first man is of the earth, earthy." 
The first developments which take place in the 
infancy of man, are his animal appetites; for, 
^^ that is not first which is spiritual, but that 
which is natural, and afterwards that which is 
spiritual." These appetites are necessary to 
our animal existence, and they are not evil in 
themselves ; but they become evil to us, when 
we suffer them to have dominion over us, for 
they are good servants, but bad masters. 

It is abundantly evident, from the convictions 
of our own minds, as well as from the scriptures, 
9* 



102 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

that God does not impute to us any sins but 
those which we have ourselves committed ; for 
who has ever felt any compunction for the sins 
of his ancestors ? If, therefore, our heart con- 
demn us not, then have we confidence towards 
God/' 1 John iii. 21. It is true, that God 
said to the children of Israel, "I the Lord thy 
God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities 
of the fathers upon the children unto the third 
and fourth generation ;^' but observe, he adds, 
*^ of them that hate me.'' Ex. xx. 5. It is 
evident, however, that we do feel the natural 
effects of our father's conduct, whether it be 
good or whether it be evil. He whose life is 
regulated by the principles of pure religion, en- 
deavours to bring up his children in the way they 
should go, and when he is gone, they will feel 
the good effects of his virtuous example and 
unsullied reputation. But, on the contrary, the 
wicked man often subjects his children to 
misery and disgrace even to the third and fourth 
generation. How awful, then, is the responsi- 
bility of parents ! How should these conside- 
rations incite us to diligence and watchfulness, 
lest it be said to us in the day of solemn reckon- 
ing, '* Where are the lambs I committed to thy 
charsje?" 



PRESENT STATE OP MAN. 103 

So far is the doctrine of original sin from 
being taught in the Bible, that there are several 
passages directly against itl One of the most 
striking of these is in the book of the prophet 
Ezekiel, who was sent to the children of Israel, 
expressly to reprove them for having taught this 
doctrine. He says : " What mean ye that ye 
use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 
saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and 
the children's teeth are set on edge ? As I 
live, saith the Lord, ye shall not have occasion 
any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold 
all souls are mine ; as the soul of the father , so 
also the soul of the son is mine : the soul that 
sinneth, it shall die^ — xviii. 2-4. ^^Yet, say 
ye, why '/ doth not the son bear the iniquity of 
the father? When the son hath done that 
which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my sta- 
tutes and done them, he shall surely live. The 
soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not 
hear the iniquity of the father , neither shall the 
father bear the iniquity of the son : the right- 
eousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and 
the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins 
that he hath committed, and keep all my sta- 
tutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he 



104 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

shall surely live, he shall not die. All hia 
transgressions that he hath committed, they shall 
not be mentioned unto him: in his riyhteousness 
that he hath done he shall live. Have 1 any 
|)leasure at all that the wicked should die? 
saith the Lord God : and not that he should 
return from his ways and live V^ verses 19--23 
^' Yet ye say, the way of the Lord is not equal 
Hear now, house of Israel ! Is not my way 
equal ? Are not your ways unequal V^ v. 25. 

This language appears to me a.s strong as it 
could be against the doctrine of original sin. — 
The language of Jesus Christ is also conclusive 
on this point. He says, "Suffer little children, 
and forbid them not, to come unto me ; for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven.^' ^^ Verily, I 
say unto you, except ye be converted, and be- 
come as little children, ye shall not enter into 
the kingdom of heaven.^' Matt, xviii. 3, aod 
xix. 14. Now it is evident from this, that lit- 
tle children must be born in a state of purity ; 
for no unclean thing 3an enter into the kingdom 
of God. 

I shall now proceed to consider the fourth 
and last objection, which relates to the present 
condition of man as displayed in the world 
around us. And I must acknowled;2:e that a 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 105 

large proportion of mankind appear to be so far 
alienated from the Divine harmony, that we 
may consider them in a fallen state; but this 
faH being admitted, it does not follow, ^s a 
necessary consequence, that they were horn in 
a state of impurity and sin ; it only shows that 
all are born with appetites and propensities, 
which, if improperly indulged, will lead to sin ; 
and Adam himself must have been created with 
similar appetites, or else he never would have 
fallen. Let us examine some of these appetites 
and desires, and I think we shall find them 
wisely adapted to the condition of man. 

The first appetite that we discover in infancy, 
is hunger, which prompts the child to partake 
of food, before it can reason upon its use ; and 
if its food is withheld, it is prompted to cry for 
it, so as to excite the compassion of its parents, 
but it is not in childhood only that this appetite 
is subservient to our welfare. How many there 
are who would neglect the proper nourishment 
of their bodies, if they were not impelled to it 
by the cravings of hunger, and by the hope of 
that pleasurable sensation which is derived from 
partaking of food ? Yet the desire for food, 
thus produced in man, will, if improperly in- 
dulged, lead to the vice of gluttony. Nearly 



106 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

the same observations will apply to the appetite 
of thirst, and the pleasure that attends its grati- 
fication : yet the inordinate indulgence of this 
appetite leads to the dreadful vice of intempe- 
rance, which has wrought such misery and deso- 
lation in the human family. The desire for 
rest is also necessary for recruiting our bodily 
strength, and its gratification is attended with 
a sensible pleasure; but its improper indulgence 
leads to indolence, disease, and depravity. The 
desire for action is one of our natural propensi- 
ties that is very conspicuous in childhood, and 
its exercise is conductive to the health of both 
body and mind. It is this that often impels to 
useful labour, and renders even labour a plea- 
sure. But how many evils arise from the desire 
of employment, when it takes a wrong direc- 
tion ? Thus, the vice of gambling is one among 
the many expedients that have been invented 
^^ to kill time,^' and to fill up thase vacant hours 
which ought to be devoted to nobler purposes. 
The desire for knowledge is one of the noblest 
impulses of the mind, and the exercise of it is 
accompanied by an exalted pleasure : yet this 
desire, when directed to frivolous or useless ob- 
jects, degenerates into a vain curiosity, which 
is productive of evil. 



PRESENT STATE OF MAN. 107 

Thus we might proceed to examine all the 
desires and affections of our animal and spiritual 
natures, and we should find them all to be the 
good gifts of a gracious God, and ^^ trees of his 
right-hand planting :'' but, like the elements of 
the natural world, they are all liable to abuse. 
Thus, conjugal and parental love are good in 
themselves, but they may degenerate into idola- 
try. Emulation may lead to envy; and the 
desire for power may end in avarice or ambition. 

It has pleased the benevolent Author of our 
being to attach a peculiar pleasure to the grati- 
fication of these desires, when tbey are kept 
within their proper hounds : but no sooner do 
we indulge them beyond this point, than they 
become the instruments of our chastisement. — 
Even that natural feeling of displeasure or aver- 
sion, which is occasioned by a positive injury 
inflicted upon ourselves or upon others, if it be 
permitted to arise to anger, will give us pain. 
Yet I believe it is a good principle, when directed 
only against the wickedness of men, without 
being accompanied by any ill-will towards them; 
for the Divine Being himself condemns " all un- 
righteousners,'' at the same time that he is 
**kind even to the unthankful and to tie 
evil.'' 



108 ON THE ORIGINAL AND 

How beautiful — how perfectly adapted to ouf 
wants, is the original constitution of man ! espe- 
cially when we take into view that Divine prin- 
ciple of light which shines in the soul, and ena- 
bles us to perceive what is our duty towards God 
and our fellow-men ; which is comprehended in 
*^ doing justly, loving mercy, and walking hum- 
bly with God!'' Mic. vi. 8. The virtuous 
affections have been likened to the gales which 
waft the vessel on her way, and this Divine 
monitor is the pilot who sits at the helm and 
guides her to the destined port. How much 
it is to be lamented that the' free teachings 
of this Divine principle are neglected, while 
so many are looking outward to men and to 
books for instruction, instead of looking within 
themselves for the kingdom of heaven, which 
consists in ^^ righteousness, peace, and joy in the 
Holy Spirit!" 

John. I remember in our last conversation 
thou told us that man has '^ nothing good in 
himself/' Does not that sentiment conflict 
with some of the views thou hast just ex- 
pressed ? 

Father. I said he had nothing good in him- 
self independent of the Divine Being; which 
does not conflict with my present views; for 



PRESENT STATE &F MAN. 109 

" there is but one that is good, that is God/' 
However noble may be the faculties he has 
given to man, they cease to be good as soon 
as they cease to be governed by him. God 
is the sun and centre of his spiritual crea- 
tion ; and as soon as we depart from under the 
restraining influence of his love, we fall into a 
state of disorder and confusion. But he desires 
that we should serve him from choice, and not 
from compulsion; and therefore, while he has 
bound the material universe in chains, he has 
'' left free the human will/^ 

All the dealings of God towards his creatures 
are founded in eternal love : even the sufferings 
which result from the abuse of his gifts, seem . 
intended to bring back the delinquents to the 
path of rectitude, which is the only state where 
happiness can be attained. His commands and 
his prohibitions are all for our good, and are 
wisely designed for the promotion of our present 
and eternal welfare. It is a law which he has 
stamped upon our* nature, that virtue will always 
produce happiness, and vice will always bring 
misery : they do so now, and they must continue 
to do so forever. How important then it is, 
that we should cultivate those benevolent affec- 
tions which are calculated to bring us into the 
10 



110 STATE OF MAN, ETC, 

image of God ; for, as we become ^^ partakers of 
his nature/* we shall participate in his happiness; 
and when we leave this scene of probation, we 
shall be fitted to enter into those spiritual joys 
which are prepared for the righteous. 

IIow ardently do I desire that all my fellow- 
creatures may become sensible of the true dig- 
nity of man ! which does not depend on the 
abundance of riches, nor on the attainments of 
learning, nor on the possession of intellectual 
power; but it consists in being made ^^ partakers 
of the Divine nature,'* enjoying communion 
with the Holy Spirit, and becoming " heirs of 
God, and joint heirs with Christ." 



CONVERSATION IV. 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

James. Since our last interview, brother Johfi 
and I have been conversing on the attributes of 
the Divine Being, and his manifestations to the 
children of men in different ages of the world. 
He appears to think there is something so 
mysterious in the subject, that we ought to be- 
lieve without understanding it : but I am opposed 
to every thing like implicit belief: and as dif- 
ferent dQCtrines are taught among men, I can- 
not believe any of them, until the subject shall 
become clear to my own understanding. 

John. Here is the difference between brother 
James and myself : he is determined to measure 
every thing by his own finite understanding, 
even the three-fold existence of the infinite God; 
but I do not feel at liberty to doubt any thing 
that appears to be clearly recorded in the holy 
scriptures, although it may be beyond my lim- 

(111) 



112 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

ted comprehension : for I find, that even in the 
works of creation, there are many things that I 
do not understand^ yet it is impossible to doubt 
them. For instance, I know there is an inti- 
mate connection between the soul and the body, 
and yet I cannot understand how they are united, 
nor how a material body can be acted on by 
an immaterial soul. We cannot understand how 
the simplest operations in nature take place. 
For example, the growth of grass is a fact that 
we all acknowledge, but we do not understand 
how it takes place. I therefore conclude, that 
it would be a piece of great folly in me to at- 
tempt to understand the mystery of three per- 
sons in the Godhead; for if the scriptures assure 
us of the fact, I ask no further evidence. 

Father. I am willing to explain to you my 
views upon the subject, and I wish you to state 
all the objections that may occur to you ; for it 
is my desire that we may all be seekers of truth, 
and not the champions of a party. Before I 
proceed to state my views upon the main ques- 
tion, I must make a few remarks upon the sub- 
ject of belief. 

It appears to me, that belief does not depend 
entirely upon our own will ; for we often hear 
things asserted, that we could not believe if we 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 113 

were to try. If a man who was really very sick, 
were told by his physician that he was not sick, 
and that he might get up and walk, it is very 
certain that the sick man would not believe him, 
although he might wish it were in his power to 
believe. 

Belief depends upon the weight of evidence 
presented before the mind, and upon our having 
a clear perception of that evidence. If the 
mind be clouded by the prejudices of education, 
or biased by interest, it will not always perceive 
, the evidence on both sides, that maybe presented 
to it ; which is a fact that may be illustrated by 
our outward vision : for when a great number 
of objects are presented before us at the same 
time, the eye will naturally rest upon those 
objects which are most agreeable to us, and will 
sometimes overlook other objects, so as not to 
perceive them at all. We therefore make up 
our opinions according to the evidence that we 
perceive ; and if we perceive only a part of the 
evidence, we may be irresistibly led to form an 
erroneous opinion. But if, at any time after- 
wards, we come to 'perceive the remaining evi- 
dence, we shall then be obliged to change this 
opiniono Therefore, I do not condemn any man 
for entertaining opinions different from my own; 

10* H 



J 14 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

for I COD elude that one or the other of us has 
not seen the subject in all its bearings ; and I 
feel assured, that if we are both faithful to put 
in practice all that we do know to he yood, the 
Divine Being will not leave us without sufficient 
light to guide our steps in the way that leads to 
eternal peace. 

There are many facts which we cannot ex- 
plain, and yet we are obliged to believe them, 
because the evidence of their existence is so 
plain as to leave no room for doubt. In this 
case, it is the fact that is the object of our be- 
lief, and not the niamicr or process by which 
the fact has been produced ; for if this process 
be hidden from us, it cannot he an ohject of he- 
lief For instance, in the cases mentioned by 
John ] the union of the soul and body, and the 
action of the soul upon the body, are facts 
which I cannot doubt; but the manner in which 
they are united, and the principle by which the 
soul acts upon the body, are hidden from me, 
and consequently this manner and this princi- 
ple are not the objects of my belief. That the 
grass grows is a fact for which I have the evi- 
dence of my senses; but so far as I cannot per- 
ceive the process by which it grows, this process 
is not an object of my belief. The human mind 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 115 

is sc constituted that we cannot believe without 
sufficient evidence; nor can we believe any 
proposition that contains in itself a contradiction 
or an absurdity : for no evidence can prove a 
thing that contradicts itself. For instance, if a 
person were to say that a part of any given thing 
is as large as the whole of it : here is a contra- 
diction that no authority whatever could make 
me believe. Compulsion may make hypocrites, 
but it never can make believers. It is related 
of Socrates, that when he was asked his opinion 
of some writings that were very obscure, he re- 
plied that he approved of those parts which he 
understood, and he therefore concluded that the 
parts which he did not understand were equally 
good. This is the conclusion I have formed 
with regard to the scriptures ; and therefore I 
am far from rejecting any passage which I do 
not understand ; for I apprehend there may be 
truths contained in such passages, which, in a 
more advanced stage of experience, will become 
clear to my mind. 

James. This explanation is satisfactory to 
me : but I believe it is very common for men to 
withdraw their attention from that kind of evi- 
dence which does not accord with their preju- 
dices and passions; and this is a species of wilful 



116 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

neglect, for which we shall certainly be held 
accountable. The term mystery, which is so 
often used by religious teachers in order to ex- 
tricate themselves from the absurdities of their 
own doctrines, has been perverted from its ori- 
ginal meaning. A mystery^ among the ancients, 
was not a doctrine supposed to be incomprehen- 
sible in itself; but it was something that was 
hidden, or withheld from the public, and only 
revealed to a favoured few ; and therefore, when 
it was revealed to any one, it was no longer a 
mystery to him. 

Father. There are two kinds of mysteries 
mentioned in the scriptures. The first is that 
kind to which Christ alludes, when he says to 
his disciples, " It is given to you to know the 
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to 
them it is nut given." Matt. xiii. 11. These 
mysteries are not revealed through the wisdom 
or learning of man ; for he says, '' I thank thee, 
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou 
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, 
and hast revealed them unto babes : even so, 
Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." — 
Luke X. 21. "Even the mystery/^ says the 
apostle, " which hath been hid from ages and 
from generations, but now is made manifest to 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 117 

his saints ; to whom God would make known 
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery 
among the Gentiles ; which is, Christ in you, the 
hope of glory/^ Col. i. 26, 27. 

From these passages, it appears, that the mys- 
teries of the kingdom of God are only revealed 
to the children of the kingdom, who are the 
meek, the humble, the teachable, as babes ; and 
they are hidden from the wise and prudent of 
this world ; that is, from those who attempt to 
understand them by the wisdom and learning of 
man, without coming to the experimental knowl- 
edge of the truth. There is, however, another 
kind of mystery, called the '^ mystery of ini- 
quity^^ which the apostle Paul said had begun 
to work, even in his day, and should be more 
fully revealed in " the man of sin and son of 
perdition,'^ who ^^ opposes and exalts himself 
above all that is called God, or that is worship- 
ped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple 
of God, showing himself that he is God.^' — 
2 Thess. ii. 3-7. This is the same kind of mys- 
tery which the apostle John alludes to in tLe 
"Revelations 3 for he describes the apostate 
church as ^^ a woman sitting upon a scarlet-col- 
ored beast, full of names of blasphemy; and 
upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery^ 



118 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

Babylon, the great J' It appears that the apos- 
tle Paul forewarned the church of Colosse 
against the particular snare that would cause 
this " falling away ;'' for he says, ^' As ye have 
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, .so 
walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and 
stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, 
abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware 
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and 
vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after 
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ ; 
for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the God- 
head bodily/' Col. ii. 6-9. 

Let us now turn our attention to the history 
of the Christian church, and trace the progress 
of this ^* mystery of iniquity,'' until it became 
inscribed on the very front of her doctrines. 
In order to show this, I will quote a few sen- 
tences from Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History. 
In his account of the first century, he says : — 
'^ The method of teaching the sacred doctrines 
of religion, was at this time most simple, far 
removed from all the subtle rules of philosophy, 
and all the precepts of human art. This ap- 
pears abundantly, not only in the writings of 
the apostles, but also in all those of the socond 
century which have survived the ruins of time. 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 119 

Neither did the apostles, or their disciples, ever 
think of collecting into a regular system the 
principal doctrines of the Christian religion, or 
of demonstrating them in a scientific and geO' 
metrical order. The beautiful and candid sim- 
plicity of those early ages, rendered such philo- 
sophical niceties unnecessary; and the great 
study of those who embraced the gospel, was, 
rather to express its divine influence in their 
dispositions and actions, than to examine its 
doctrines with an excessive curiosity, or to ex- 
plain them by the rules of human wisdom. — 
There is indeed extant, a brief summary of the 
principal doctrines of Christianity in that form, 
which bears the name of the apostles^ creed, and 
which, from the fourth century downwards, was 
almost generally considered a production of the 
apostles. All, however, who have the least knowl- 
edge of antiquity, look upon this opinion as 
entirely false, and destitute of all foundation.^'* 
In treating of the second century, he says, ^^ This 
venerable simplicity was not indeed of a long 
duration ; its beauty was gradually effaced hy 
the laborious efforts of human learning, and the 
dark subtleties of imaginary science. Acute 

* Ecc. His. London ed. 1826, p. 84. 



120 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

researches were employed upon several religiona 
subjects, concerning which ingenious decisions 
were pronounced ; and, what was worst of -all, 
several tenets of a chimerical philosophy were 
imprudently incorporated into the Christian sys- 
tem ''* 

In reviewing the doctrines of the third cen- 
tury, he says : " But the Christian doctors who 
had applied themselves to the study of letters 
and philosophy, soon abandoned the frequented 
paths, and struck out into the devious wilds of 
fancy. The Egyptians distinguished themselves 
in this new method of explaining the truth/'f 
But when he comes to the fourth century, he 
says, ^' The fundamental principles of the Chris- 
tian doctrine were preserved hitherto un corrupted 
and entire in most churches, though it must be 
confessed, that they were often explained and 
defended in a manner that discovered the great- 
est ignorance and utter confusion of ideas. The 
disputes carried on in the Council of Nice con- 
cerning the three persons in the Godhead, afford 
a remarkable example of this, particulary in the 
language and explanations of those who approved 
of the decisions of that cotincil. So little light, 

* Ecc. His. London ed. 1826, p. 135. f Ibid. p. 200. 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 121 

precision, and order, reigned in their discourses, 
that they appear to substitute three Gods instead 
of one '"^ Again, he says : " The faction of 
the Donatists was not the only one that troubled 
the church during this century. Soon after its 
commencement^ even in the year 317, a new 
contention arose in Egypt, upon a subject ot 
much higher importance, and with consequences 
of a yet more pernicious nature. The subject 
of this fatal controversy, which kindled such 
deplorable divisions throughout the Christian 
world, was the doctrine of three persons in the 
Godhead ; a doctrine which, in the three prece- 
ding centuries, had happily escaped the vain 
curiosity of human researches, and been left 
undefined and undetermined by any particular 
set of ideas. ^^f The emperor Constantine as- 
sembled, 'in the year 325, the famous council at 
Nice, in Bythinia, wherein the deputies of the 
church universal were summoned to put an end 
to this controversy. In this council, " after 
many keen debates and violent efforts of the 
two parties, the doctrine of Arius was condemned ; 
Christ declared consubstantial, or of the same 
essence with the Father; the vanquished pres- 

* Eoc. His. London ed. 1826, p. 269. f Ihid, p. 302. 
11 



122 ON THE DTVXNE BEING. 

hyterhanisked amo,:g i}^^ lUyrians, and his fol- 
lowers compelled to give their assent to the creed 
or confefcsion of faith which was composed bj 
this couucil.^' * 

Thus was established by law, for the first 
time, the docirine of the trinity; which, it does 
not appear, was ever heard of till nearly three 
hundred years after the promulgation of Chris- 
tianity. This doctrine seems to have originated 
in the speculations of visionary philosophers, — 
it was established by a council of contentious 
bishops, — and enforced by the sword of a Roman 
emperor. Previous to this time, different opin- 
ions had been entertained on this subject, 
" without giving the least offence ;''f but now 
" the woman*' was seated on the beast of tempo- 
ral power; the name of ''mystery^ was written 
on her forehead; and she went on'/rom this 
period, multiplying her absurd doctrines and 
ridiculous ceremonies, and persecuting all t?ho 
would not conform to them ; until at length 
she became ^^ drunken with the blood of the 
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of 
Jesus." 

James. This piece of history is very instruct- 

♦ Ecc. His. London ed. 1826, p. 305. f ^^^' P- 308. 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 123 

ive J it shows us how very dangerous it is to 
give up our own understandings, and to receive 
without examination whatever doctrines may be 
taught by the ministers of religion. Every 
practical Christian who reads his Bible and 
examines the book of his own experience, is 
just as capable of judging for himself as the 
most learned priest or professor of theology. It 
appears that the scholastic divines of the fourth 
century not only forced a creed upon the people, 
but many of the bishops had the address to ob- 
tain large revenues * for teaching these myste- 
ries, which they did not themselves understand. 
If people can only be persuaded to shut their 
eyes, they may be led any where ; for then they 
can no longer distinguish between darkness and 
light. 

John. It appears to me, that the doctrine of 
the trinity is taught in the scriptures, although 
the 7iame is not found there. I cannot see how 
any person who believes in the divinity of Christ 
can doubt this doctrine; for if we believe that 
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are each of 
them Divine, it appears to me that the doctrine 
is established, — unless we say that these are 

* Mosheim, p. 195. 



124 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

only three different names for one and the same 
Being. 

Father. I believe m the divinity of Christ, 
but I cannot receive the doctrine of three per- 
sons in one God. The views of William Penn 
on this subject are so consistent with my own, 
and so well expressed, that I will quote them 
to you. He says, " I sincerely own, and unfeign- 
edly believe in ONE, hcly, just, merciful, al- 
mighty, and eternal God, who is the father of 
all things ; that appeared to the holy patriarchs 
and prophets of old, at sundry times and in 
divers manners; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, 
the everlasting wisdom, divine power, true light, 
only Saviour and preserver of all, the same ONE^ 
holy, just, merciful, almighty, and f^erna^ Godj 
who in the fulness of time took and was mani- 
fested in the flesh ; at which time he preached 
(and his disciples after him) the everlasting gos- 
pel of repentance, and promise of remission of 
sins and eternal life to all that heard and 
obeyed ; who said. He that is with you, (in the 
flesh,) shall be in you, (by the spirit,) and though 
he left them, (as to the flesh,) yet not comfort- 
less, for he would come to them again, (in the 
spirit ]) for a little time they should not see 
him, (as to the flesh,) again a little while and 




ON THE DIVINE BEING. 125 



they should see him (in the spirit;) for the 
Lord (Jesus Christ) is that Spirit^ a manifesta- 
tion whereof is given to every man to profit 
vrithal. In which Holy Spirit I believe as the 
savie almighty and eternal God; who, as in 
those times he ended all shadows, and became 
the infallible guide to them that walked therein, 
by which they were adopted heirs and co-heirs 
of glory ; so am I a living witness that the same 
holy, just, merciful, almighty, and eternal God, is 
now, as then, (after this tedious night of idola- 
try, superstition, and human inventions, that hath 
overspread the world,) gloriously manifested, to 
save from all iniquity, and to conduct into the 
holy land of pure and endless peace; in a word, 
to tabernacle in men/' * — [See Penn's Inno- 
cency with her open face.] 

John. Although I acknowledge that William 
Penn was a great and good man, I cannot take 
his expressions as sufficient authority; I look to 
a higher source, even to the scriptures of truth, 
for evidence on this important question. Now, 

* See 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6 ; Heb. i. 1 ; 1 Cor. y\\\. 6 ; 
John i. 14; 1 Tim. iii. 16; Matt. iv. 17 ; Luke xxiv. 
47; John xiv. 17, 18, xvi. 16; 2 Cor. iii. 17; 1 Cor. 
1.7; Romans viii. 14, 17; Rev. xxi. J*; Proverbs 
xxviii. 13. 

11* 



126 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

the scriptures appear to me to speak of the 
Deity in a threefold sense : — first, as the Creator 
and Father of all; secondly, as the Son, who is 
the mediator between God and man; and thirdly, 
as the Holy Ghost, who is sent by the Father 
and the Son, to sanctify the heart and regulate 
the aflfections. Yet it is repeatedly said in the 
Old and New Testament, that God is one; there- 
fore, we conclude that there are three persons 
in one God, — each of which persons is perfect 
in himself, possessing omnipotence, omniscience, 
and eternity; the ^^same in substance, equal in 
power, eternity, and glory." [See Westminster 
Confession.] I shall now endeavor to prove 
these positions by passages from scripture. 

1st. That there is more than one person in the 
Godhead, may be inferred from the following 
texts : ^' God said, let us make man in our image, 
after our likeness.'' Gen. i. 26. ^^And the Lord 
God said, the man has become as one of «.<?, to 
know good and evil." Gen. iii. 26. And the 
prophet says, " I heard the voice of the Lord, 
saying, whom shall I send, and who shall go for 
usP^^ Isaiah vi. 8. We are also informed by 
learned men, that the name most commonly 
given to the Deity, in the Old Testament, is 
Elohim, which is a plural noun ; and this has 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 127 

been considered a strong proof that there is a 
plurality of persons in the Godhead. 

2d. That the number of persons in the Deity 
is three, may be concluded from the words of 
our Lord, who said to his disciples, '^ Go ye, 
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost/' Matt, xxviii. 19. And 
also from the benediction of the apostle Paul, 
who says, '' The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the communion of 
the Holy Ghost, be with you all.'' 1 Corinth, 
xiii. 14. 

3d. We argue that each of these is, in some 
sense distinct, because one is represented as the 
Father, who sends ; another as the Son, who is 
sent into the world ; and the third as the Spirit, 
that was poured out upon all flesh. The Father 
and Son are also represented, in many places, 
as speaking to each other, which shows that 
they must be distinct from each other in one 
sense, although forever united in another. Now, 
I think it may be proved that each of these 
persons is Divine, and consequently co-eternal 
and co-equal. That the Father is omnipotent, 
omniscient, and eternal, will, I suppose, be ad- 
mitted without argument. That the Son is so, 



128 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

may be shown from the introduction to the Gos* 
pel by St. John. ^^In the beginning was the 
Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God. Thfe same was in the becrinnino: 
with God. All things were made by him, and 
without him was npt any thing made that was 
made." Ch. i. 2. ^^And the Word was made 
flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his 
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
Father,) full of grace and truth." — verse 14. 
There are many other texts of similar import, 
but I shall quote only one more, which I con- 
sider sufficient. St. Paul says, "God, who at 
sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in 
time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath 
in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, 
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by 
whom also he made the worlds; who being the 
brightness of his glory, and the express image 
of his person, and upholding all things by the' 
word of his power, when he had by himself 
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of 
the Majesty on high." Heb. i. 1-3. 

That the Holy Ghost is not only Divine, but 
personally distinct from the others, may be in- 
ferred from the operations assigned to them being 
generally diflferent. He is represented as the 



c 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 129 

baptizing power ; Christians are also said to be 
born of the Spirit: and Christ promised his 
disciples, "I will pray the Father, and he shall 
give you another Comforter, that he may abide 
with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth/^ — 
John xiv. 16. 

4th. Having now shown from scripture that 
there are three persons in the Deity, it only re- 
mains to be proved that Jesus Christ is the 
second person, or Logos, mysteriously united to 
'- a human body and rational soul,'^ and born of 
a virgin ; and this has been called the hypostat- 
ical union. This may be proved from many- 
passages. It is said, " He took not on him the 
nature of angels, but he took on him the seed 
of Abraham; wherefore, in all things it be- 
hoved him to be made like unto his brethren, 
that he might be a merciful and faithful high- 
priest, in things pertaining to God, to make 
reconciliation for the sins of the people ; for in 
that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, 
he is able to succour them that are tempted/^ — 
Heb. ii. 16-18. He is also called '^ God mani- 
fest in the flesh.'' 1 Tim. iii. 16. '' God with 
us.'' '' The Lord of glory." 1 Cor. iii. 8. And, 
^^ over ail, God blessed for ever." Rom. ix. 5.. 
That he had a human soul, as well as a human 
I 



130 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

body, is very clear ; for he says, " My soul is 
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death /^ Yet 
his human nature must not be confounded with 
his divine; for, though there be an union of 
natures in Christ, yet there is not a mixture or 
confusion of them or their properties. His hu- 
manity is not changed into his Deity ; nor his 
Deity into his humanity; but the two natures 
are distinct in one person. How this union 
exists is above our comprehension ; and indeed, 
if we cannot explain how our bodies and souls 
are united, it is not to be supposed we can ex- 
plain this astonishing mystery of ^^ God manifest 
in the flesh/' [See Buck's Theo. Diet, article 
Jesus Christ — also. Smith's Treatise on the 
Trinity.] 

Father. Those who profess to derive their 
doctrines entirely from the scriptures, ought to 
be very careful to keep the language of scrip- 
ture, especially when speaking on a subject that' 
they do not pretend to understand. If the doc- 
trine of a trinity be taught in the scriptures, it 
must be conveyed by inspiration in the very 
best language which could be chosen ; and there 
is no need of inventing nexc terms to express it. 
But we do not find any such term in the scrip- 
tures as a trinity, nor is it said that there are 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 131 

three persons in the Godhead ; nor is there any 
language there conveying the same ideas. I 
therefore conclude, that this doctrine is an in- 
vention of men ; and it must be acknowledged 
by every reader of history, that it has been one 
of the principal causes of dissention and perse- 
cution ever since it was introduced into the 
church. If we take the word person in its 
common acceptation, it means an individual, or 
a being ; and if we say there are three infinite 
persons in one Being, each of whom has all 
power and all wisdom, the proposition contains 
in itself a contradiction that is obvious to the 
meanest capacity. Therefore the advocates of 
this doctrine are obliged to admit that the 
term person does not exactly convey their 
meaning, and that they only use it for want of 
a better. Why then should they contend so 
strenuously for words that do not convey their 
meaning? 

I shall now proceed to examine the founda- 
tion on which this doctrine rests. 

In the first place, — It is said that the use 

• of the plural pronouns us and our, ascribed to 

the Divine Being, and the circumstance of one 

of the names given to him in the scriptures 

being 2^. plural murif indicate that there is more 



132 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

than one person in the Deitj. This peculiarity 
in the Hebrew language* has furnished one of 



* The late learned and amiable Hindoo reformer, 
Rammohun Roy, remarks: "Were we even to disre- 
gard totally the idiom of the Hebrew, Arabic, and of 
almost all Asiatic languages, in which the plural Mum- 
ber is often used for the singular to express the respect 
due to the person denoted by the noun; and to under- 
stand the term * our image' and *our likeness,' found 
in the verse, [Gen. i. 26] as conveying a plural mean- 
ing, the quotation would still by no means answer their 
purpose ; for the verse in question would in that case 
imply a plurality of Gods, without determining whether 
their number was three or three hundred, and of 
course without specifying their persons. No middle 
point in the unlimited series of number being deter- 
mined, it would be almost necessary, for the purpose 
of obtaining some fixed number, as implied by those 
terms, to adopt either two, the lowest degree of plu- 
rality in the first personal pronoun both in Hebrew 
and Arabic, or to take the highest number of Gods 
with which human imagination has peopled the hea- 
vens. In the former case, the verse cited might coun- 
tenance the doctrine of the duality of the Godhead, 
entertained by Zirdusht and bis follower?, represent- 
ing the God of goodness and the God of evil, to hav^ 
jointly created man, composed of a mixed nature of 
good and evil propensities : in the latter, it would be 
consistent with the Hindoo system of religion; but 
th?T« s nothing in the words, that can be with any 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 133 

the strong arguments of trinitarians ; but t'ney 
appear to forget that the same kind of plural 

justice construed as pointing to Trinity. These are 
not the only difficulties attending the interpretation 
of those terms: — if they should be viewed in any 
other than a singular sense, they would involve con- 
tradiction with the very next verse: 'So God created 
man in his own image;' in which the singular num- 
ber is distinctly used: as in Deul. ch. iv. ver. 4: ' The 
Lord our God is one Lord;' and also with the spirit 
of the whole of the Old Testament. 

" To those who are tolerably versed in Hebrew and 
Arabic, (which is only a refined Hebrew,) it is a well- 
known fact, that in the Jewish and Mohummudan 
scriptures, as well as in common discourse, the plural 
form is often used in a singular sense, when the superi- 
ority of the subject of discourse is intended to be 
kept in view. This is sufficiently apparent from the 
following quotations, taken both from the Old Testr.- 
ment in Hebrew, and from the Qoran. Exo. ch. xxi. 
ver. 4, ' If his masters, (meaning his master) have 
given him a wife.' Verse 6, 'Then his masters, (that 
is, his master) shall bring him unto the Judges.' Ver. 
29th, * But if the ox were wont to push with his horn 
in time past, and it has been testified to his owners,' 
(that is, to his owner.) Isn. ch. vi. ver. 8, * Whom 
shall I send? and who will go for us?' (that is, 
for me.) 

*'So also in the Qoran, 'We are (meaning I am) 
nearer than the jugular vein.' < Surely loe (meaning 
12 



134 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

language was applied to the golden calf, which 
the children of Israel worshipped in the wilder- 
ness, — although it is very evident that there 
was but one talf made on that occasion. It is 
said, that the people brought their golden ear- 
rings to Aaron, " and he received them at their 
hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after 
he had made it a malten volf: and thej said, 
The^e he thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee 
up out of the land of Egypt." Exodus xxxii. 4. 
The same plural language is repeated again in 
verse 8th, ''These be thy gods, Israel," etc. 
Aaron excused himself to Moses by saying, 
^' They said unto me, make us r/rnh which shall 
go before us." — verse 23. '^And I said unto 
them, Whosoever hath any gold let them break 
it off. So they gave it me : then I cast it into 
the fire, and there came out this caJ/.'' — verse 
24. Can any rational mind pretend that the 
use of a plural n^un and pronoun in this instance 

/) created every thing in proportion.' In those two 
texts of the Qoran, God is represented to have spo- 
ken in the plural number, although Mohummud can- 
not be supposed to have employed a mode of expres- 
sion which he could have supposed capable of being 
considered favourable to the Trinity.' 

Appeal, etc., p. 140-143. 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 135 

by the Israelites, proves that ''this calf^^ was, 
in some sense, three calves, and at the same time 
only one calf? 

The belief in one self-existent, eternal, om* 
nipotent, and omnipresent God, was the great 
and fundamental doctrine of the Jewish reli- 
gion; and the writings of the Old Testament 
are full of passages declaring that there is but 
one God, who is himself the Saviour and Re- 
deemer of men. "I am the Lord,'' says he, 
" and there is none else — there is no God be- 
sides me/' — "Thus saith the Lord, the Holy 
One of Israel, and his Maker." Is. xlv. 5, 11. 
"I, even I, am the Lord, and besides me there 
is no Saviour.'^ " Thus saith the Lord, your 
Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.^' Is. xliii. 
11, 14. These sentiments are reiterated and 
confirmed in the New Testament. " Jesus an- 
swered. The first of all the commandments is. 
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord J' 
"And the scribes said unto him, Well, master, 
thou hast said the truth, for there is one God, 
and there is none other but he :'' Mark xii. 29, 
32 ] which proves that the Jews believed then, 
as they do now, that he is one undivided Deity. 

We are told by the highest authority, that 
'^none is good save one: that is God.'' Luke 



136 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

xvii. 19. The apostle Paul says, "God is one." 
Gal, iii. 20. Aud the apostle Jude says, " To 
the only wise God our Saviouj-j be glory and 
majesty, dominion and power, both now and 
ever.'' — verse 25. 

2. There are many names given to the Divine 
Being, in the Old and New Testaments, which 
are either expressive of his attributes, or descrip- 
tive of the various ways in which he has mani- 
fested himself to the children of men^ accord- 
ing to their several states and capacities. Thus 
he is called Jehovah, or self-existing ; and he is 
called Jah, which means eternal. He is also 
called the King of Glory, the Lord of Hosts, 
and the Prince of Peace. To the wicked he 
appears as a consuming fire ; but to the faithful 
he becomes the Lord our righteousness, the 
Rock of ages, and the Saviour and Redeemer of 
his people. Yet, notwithstanding this variety 
of names which are given to the Divine Being, 
in both the Old and New Testaments, it is said 
by the prophet Zechariah, in allusion to the gos- 
pel day, ^' In that day there shall be 07ie Lord, 
and his name one,'* Chap. xiv. 9. Which I 
understand to mean, that there shall be only one 
Divine power acknowledged, to whom all these 
various names are attributed. The name of the 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 1^7 

Lord is often used in scripture^ to indicate the 
power or the presence of the Lord. Thus it is 
said, " The name of the Lord is a strong tower." 
Prov. xviii. 10, '' Thy name is as ointment 
poured forth." Cant. i. 3. " For that thy name 
is near thy works declare." Ps. Ixxv. 1. ^* Be- 
hold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee 
in the way. Beware of him, and obey his 
voice, — provoke him not, for he will not pardon 
your transgressions, for my name is in hvmJ' 
Ex. xxiii. 20, 2L 

From these and many other passages, I think 
it is clear, that to be baptized into the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Grhost, signifies to be brought under the purify- 
ing influence of that one Divine power, whose 
manifestations to the children of men are rep- 
resented by these various names. I see no res» 
son to conclude that the Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, are all distinct persons, because these 
names are all found in one sentence. 

There are many other places in the scriptures 
where the Divine Being is mentioned under dif- 
ferent names in one sentence. For instance, 
" Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given : 
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Ccun- 
12* 



138 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

selbr, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 
the Prince of Peace/' Is. ix. 6. Here are five 
names mentioned, and, according to the trinita- 
rian arguments, they imply jive pei'sons in the 
Deity. The reduplicative style is very common 
in the sacred writings. For example, the apos- 
tle James says : " Pure religion and undefiled 
before God and the Father^ is this.'' — i. 27. 
And the apostle Paul says: "Do all in the 
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God 
and the Father by him." Colos. iii. 17. He 
also speaks in another place, " of God^ and of 
the Father, and of Christ.'' Col. ii. 2. From 
these expressions, some persons might conclude 
that God and the Father are two distinct per- 
sons; but the apostolic doctrine was, "There is 
but one God, the Father, o/whom are all things, 
and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, 6y 
whom are all things, and we by him." 1 Cor, 
viii. 6. 

3. The attempt to prove that there are three 
persons in the Deity, by saying that different 
offices are assigned to the Father, and the Word, 
and the H0I3- Spirit, will not stand the test of 
scrutiny : for the scriptures ascribe precisely the 
eame works to the Deity under each of these 
titles. For instance, the work of creation is 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 139 

ascribed, — first, to God: '"In the begunino 
God created the heaven and the earth/' Gen. 
i. 1. Secondly, to the Spirit of God: '^ The 
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the wa- 
ters/' Gen. i. 2. " Thou sendest 'forth % 
spiint, they are created; and thou renewest the 
face of the earth/' Ps. civ. 30. Thirdly, to 
the wisdom of God : " By wisdom he made the 
heavens.'' Ps. cxxxvi. 5. " The Lord by wisdom 
hath founded the earth." Proverbs iii. 19. 
Foui'thly, to the Word of God : "All things 
were made by him." John i. 3. ^- By the 
word of God the heavens were of old, and the 
earth standing out of the water and in the 
water." 2 Pet. iii. 5. Fifthly, to the Son of 
God : " He hath in these last days spoken unto 
us by his Son, by whom also he made the 
worlds/' Heb. i. 2. " God created all things by 
Jesus Christ" Eph. iii. 9. 

Here then, according to the trinitarian method 
of reasoning, are five persons concerned in the 
work of creation. But according to my view 
there is only one God, whose holy power or Di- 
vine influence is sometimes called the Spirit of 
God, or the Holy Spirit, because '^ God is a 
Spirit." It is sometimes called the Wisdom of 
God ; for "in him are hid all the treasures of 



140 ON THE DIVINE BEING 

wisdom and knowledge." Col. ii. 3. It is 
likewise called the Word of God; because it is the 
medium by which he speaks to man. And it is 
called the Son of God, and Jesus Christ; be- 
cause it was through this one Divine power 
that Jesus did the works of God. He said, ^' I 
can of mine own self do nothing; as I hear 1 
judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek 
not mine own will, but the will of the Father 
which sent me." John v. 30. " The words 
that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, 
but the Father that diceJJeth in me, he Jorih the 
tcorksy John xiv. 10. 

4. This brings us to the last point of the 
argument, which relates to the union of tl>e 
Divine and human natures in Jesus Christ. This 
union I fully acknowledge ; but I can see no 
need of calling it a hypostatical union ; for 
there is no such language used by the inspired 
writers, and I believe that this, and other Latin 
names, (such as trinity and triune God,) have 
been used as blinds, to conceal from the public 
the deplorable ignorance of priests and profes- 
sors in relation to divine things. They being 
ignorant of ^^that wisdom which is from above," 
(James iii. 17,) have resorted to ^' the iconh 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 141 

which marCs wisdom teacheth,^^ in order to ap- 
pear wise before men. 

The scriptures tell us, that "• as many as are 
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of 
God/' Romans viii. 14. "The Spirit itself 
beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the 
children of God : and if children, then heirs, 
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.^' — 
verses 16, 17. They also teach us that we may 
become "partakers of the Divine nature.'' 2 
Peter i. 4. 

This union which takes place between God 
and all those who are born of his Spirit, is so 
perfect, that the church (or assembly of the 
righteous) is likened to a spiritual house, of 
which Christ is the " chief corner stone." 1 
Peter ii. 5, 6. The apostle Paul, in addressing 
the Ephesians, says : " Ye are built upon the 
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus 
Christ himself being the chief corner stone ; in 
whom all the building, fitly framed together, 
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord ; 
in whom ye also are builded together, for an 
habitation of God through the Spirit." — ii. 
20-22. 

The church is also compared to a body, hav- 
ing many members, of which Jesus Christ is 



142 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

the head, (Eph. iv. 15. — Col. i. 18. — Romans 
xii. 4, 5. — 1 Cor. xii. 12.) It appears to mo, 
that the apostles considered '•^ the man Christ 
Jesus/' (1 Tim. ii. 5,) to be the chief member 
or head of the spiritual body, which is made up 
of the faithful servants of God of all ages and 
nations; and therefore they speak of him as 
the '^first-born among many brethren." Kom. 
viii. 29. 

With these views, I can fully acknowledge 
not only the Divine \Yord or Logos, which dwelt 
in Jesus without measure, and which constituted 
him the anointed Saviour, but I can likewise 
acknowledge the sinless perfection of his human 
nature. It appears from the scriptures that he 
was miraculously conceived and born of a vir- 
gin : he '' was in all points tempted like as we 
are, yet without sin ;'' (Heb. iv. 15) and he was 
*' a man approved of God, by miracles, and won- 
ders, and signs, which God did by him." Acts 
r. 22. It is, however, very evident, that the 
" two natures were distinct" in him ; for it is 
not possible that the Divine nature should suffer 
death, or be affected with agony of soul. 

I can further say with the apostle Paul, 
" Henceforth know we no man after the flesh ; 
yea, though we have known Christ after the 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 143 

flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more/' 
2 Cor. V. 16. And therefore, when I speak of 
Christ Jesus, or the Saviour, I mean that ^^ unc- 
tion from the Holy One^^ which reigned in 
Jesus, and " the manifestation^' of which " is 
given to every man to profit withal : '' (1 Cor. 
xii. 7) for, ^^ of his fulness have all we received, 
and grace for grace.'' John-i. 16. ^^ In him 
was life, and the life was the light of men. — 
That was the true light which lighteth every 
man that cometh into the world." — ver. 4. 9.* 

This Divine power, or word of God, is often 
called Christ by the writers of the New Testa- 
ment. For instance, Paul says of the children 
of Israel under Moses, that " they did all eat 
the same spiritual meat, and they did all drink 
the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that 
spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock 
was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 4. 

Peter says that the prophets ^^ prophesied of 

* '*I said that we believed in Christ, both as he was 
the man Jesus, and God over all, blessed forever. — 
And I am sure that Paul divides Him more than we 
did, (Romans ix. 5,) since he makes a distinction be- 
tween Christ as God and Christ as man." \Vm. Penn's 
Letter to George Fox. See Janney's Life of Penn, 2d 
edition, p. 101. 



144 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

the grace that should come unto you, searching 
what, or what manner of time, the spirit of 
Christ which was in them did signify ; when it 
testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, 
and the glory that should follow." 1 Pet. i. 11. 
There are a great many other passages in the 
New Testament, where Christ is spoken of as 
that one Divine Spirit who manifests himself m 
man for our sanctification and redemption. Foi 
example : " Know ye not your own selves, how 
that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be repro- 
bates." 2 Cor. xiii. 5. " To whom God would 
make known what is the riches of the glory of 
this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ 
in you the hope of glory." Col. i. 27. " It pleased 
God to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach 
him among the heathen." Gal. i. 15, 16. "Ye 
are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if so be 
that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if 
any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is 
none of his." Rom. viii. 9. Here the Spirit 
of God and the Spirit of Christ are spoken of 
as one and the same. 

In confirmation of this, the apostle goes on to 
say, "And if Christ be in you, the body is 
dead because of [or as to] sin ; but the spirit is 
alive, because of righteousness. But if the 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 145 

Spirit of hivi that raised up Jesus Christ from 
the dead, dwell in you, he that raised up Christ 
from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal 
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you/' — ver. 
lOj 11. The same apostle says, "Because ye 
are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his 
Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father.' ' — 
Gal. iv. 6. And again he says, " The Lord is 
that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, 
there is liberty/' 2 Cor. iii. 17. I might ad- 
duce many other passages, to show that when 
the apostles speak of Christ, they often mean 
the anointing pov:er of God's Spirit, or " the 
law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which 
makes free from the law of sin and death," that 
" wars in our members." Rom. viii. 2, and viii. 
23. It is evident, that Jesus spake of his out- 
ward body merely as a temple in which this 
Divine power was manifested; for he said, 
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will 
raise it up." " But he spake of the temple of 
his body." John ii. 19-2 L In this prediction 
he spoke in the name of his Father ; for it is 
said in the scriptures that " he was raised up 
from the dead by the glory of the Father'' — 
Bom. vi. 4. " This commandment have I re- 
ceived of my Father." John x. 18. And after 
13 K 



146 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

he was risen, he said to Mary, '^ Go to my breth* 
ren, and say untc^ them, I ascend unto my Father 
and your Father and to my God and your God/' 
John XX. 17. 

John. It appears that the same body which 
was cruciSed, rose again and ascended up to 
heaven, and now sitteth on the right hand of 
God; for he said, after his resurrection, "A 
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me 
have :" which shows that it was a human body. 
Ami it is also said, *' He was taken up, and a 
cloud received him out of their sight." — 
Acts i. 9. 

James. I think the circumstance of his being 
received up into a cloud, does not prove that 
the same body of Jiesh and bones was introduced 
into the spiritual world. As God is a pure 
^^ Spirit, without body, parts, or passions,'* * it 
is very possible that he changed his Son into 
his own likeness, or that he gave him a spiritual 
body. When Elijah was translated, he was taken 
up by a chariot of fire and horses of fire, but I 
do not conclude from this, that there are horses 
in heaven. I consider it a striking evidence of 

* Episcopal Articles. 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 147 

Divine power displayed on this occasion, to con- 
firm the faith of Elisha. 

Jesus taught the Jews that Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, were then living. Matthew xxii. 32. 
Yet we have no reason to believe that their 
earthly bodies ever had been raised from the 
grave. What I understand by the resurrection, 
as regards a future existence, is the soul being 
raised out of this state of mutability into a 
spiritual world, where it shall receive either 
happiness or misery, " according to the deeds 
done in the body.'^ 

Father. Perhaps we had best not indulge in 
much speculation on this subject, for ^^ secret 
things belong unto the Lord our God, but the 
things which are revealed belong unto us and our 
children/' 

The apostle Paul, on the subject of the resur- 
rection, says : ^' Now this I say, brethren, that 
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of 
God.'' 1 Cor. XV. 50. And the apostle John 
writes with still more caution, for he says, 
^^ Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it 
doth not yet appear what we shall be ', but when 
he cometh we shall be like him, for we shall see 
him as he is; and every man that hath this hope 
in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 



148 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

1 John iii. 2, 3. This ought to be the main 
object of our thoughts, to purify ourselves even 
as he is pure, in order that we may become the 
sons of God. ** My little children/' saith the 
apostle, ^^ of whom I travail in birth again until 
Christ be formed in you." Gal. iv. 19. ^^ There 
is one body, and one spirit, even as you are 
called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, 
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of 
all, who is above all, through all, and in you all. 
But unto every one of us is given grace accord- 
ing to the measure of the gift of Christ." Eph. 
iv. 4-7. ^^ Till we all come, in the unity of the 
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the 
stature of the fulness of Christ." — verse l3. 
This stature of the fulness of Christ consists, I 
believe, in a state of perfect obedience to the 
law of Divine love, by which means our minds 
may become so transformed by the spirit of 
Christ, as to be in unity with him, even as he 
is in unity with the Father; agreeably to the 
prayer of the blessed Jesus, when he said, 
" Holy Father, keep through thine uicn Jtanie, 
those whom thou hast given me that they may 
be 071 e as we are. As thou. Father, art in me, 
and I in thee, that they may be one in us."— 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 149 

John xvii. 11, 21. "I will pray the Father/' 
said he, " and he shall give you another Com- 
forter, that he may abide with you for ever, even 
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot re- 
ceive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth 
him : but ye know him, for he dwelleth with 
you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you 
comfortless, I will come to you.'' John xiv. 
16-18. 

Here we see that the same Holy Spirit which 
was in Jesus, and thus dwelt with the disciples, 
was to be manifested in them, for their comfort; 
and not unto them only, but unto as many as 
should believe on him through their word. 

John. If we consider the Divine Word, or 
Spirit of Christ, to be the medium through 
which God reveals himself to man, does not this 
seem to imply that there are two Divine powers 
or persons 't 

Father. I will answer this question by asking 
another. What do men generally understand 
by the term nature, when they speak of the 
;aws of nature and the powers of nature ? — 
Do they mean that there is another power be- 
sides that of God operating upon the material 
world ? 

John. I understand by it nothing more than 
13* 



150 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

the power of God, as continually displayed in 
the outward creation. 

Father. And so, when I speak of Christ, or 
the Divine Word, I mean "the power of God 
and the wisdom of God," (1 Cor. i 24,) as 
manifested in the souls of meiiy to redeem them 
from all iniquity, and to bring them into his own 
glorious image of purity and love. This Divine 
power is represented under various figures or 
metaphors, in the scriptures ; but the most stri- 
king and beautiful, is that of light. The apos- 
tle John says, " God is light, and in him is no 
darkness at all." And speaking of Christ, he 
says, ^* In him was life, and the life was the 
light of men ; that was the true light, which 
ligheth every man that cometh into the world." 
God is the great luminary or sun of his spiritual 
creation ; and that power or influence by which 
he acts upon the souls of men, is called his 
light : *^ For whatsoever doth make manifest is 
light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that 
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ 
shall give thee light,*' Eph. v. 13, 14. As the 
light of the sun is the source of all the beauty 
that adorns the outward creation, and as the 
smallest ray of light contains in itself every 
colour of the rainbow; so this Divine light 



ON THE DIVINE BEING. 151 

which emanates from God, is the source of 
every Christian virtue, and " in it are hidden all 
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge/' 

When we see such striking evidences of Di 
vine power and goodness displayed in the gov- 
ernment of the outward world, — clothing the 
earth with flowers and verdure in spring, with 
harvests in summer, and with fruits in autumn, — 
and preserving the various tribes of animals 
through the severity of winter : when we feel 
assured that not even a sparrow falls to the 
ground without his notice; — can we suppose 
that he withdraws his presence from the immor- 
tal part of his creature man ? No ; it is on 
the rational soul of man that he bestows his pe- 
culiar care ; it is there that his sensible presence 
is felt, and to him alone are we indebted for 
every holy aspiration after virtue, and every 
feeling of extended benevolence. And he not 
only incites us to goodness, but he reproves us 
for evil, and, as a tender father, he visits and 
revisits his erring children with ^^ the reproofs 
of instruction, which are the way of life/' 

" Thou art the source and centre of all minds, 
Their only point of rest, Eternal Word ' 
From thee departing they are lost, and rove 
At ran iom, withou t honour, hope, or peace. 



152 ON THE DIVINE BEING. 

From thee is all that soothes the life of man; 
His high endeavour, and his glad success, 
His strength to suffer, and his will to serve. 
But thou bounteous Giver of all good. 
Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown ! 
Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor; 
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away." 

COWPER. 
NOTE. 

There is one text which was not introduced 
nor alluded to in the foregoing conversation, be- 
cause its authenticity is now considered so 
doubtful that it has been abandoned by some 
of the most learned biblical critics. The fol- 
lowing remarks in relation to it are extracted 
from the commentary of Adam Clarke, a learned 
trinitarian writer. 

1 John V. 7. " For there are three that bear 
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and 
the Holy Ghost; and these three are one." 

^* There are one hundred and thirteen Greek 
MSS. extant, containing the first epistle of John, 
and this text is wanting in one hundred and 
twelve. It only exists in the Codex Mont- 
fortii, (a comparatively recent MS.,) already 
described.'' 

^'All the Greek fathers omit the verse, though 



ON THE DIVINE BEINO. 153 

many of them quote both verse 6th and 8th, 
applying them to the Trinity, Divinity of Christ, 
and the Holy Spirit/^ 

^^ The first place the verse appears in Greek, 
is in the Greek translation of the acts of the 
council of Lateran, held A. D. 1215/^ 

^^ The Latin fathers do not quote it, even 
where it would have greatly strengthened their 
arguments, and where, had it existed, it might 
have been most naturally expected. It is want- 
ing in all the ancient versions, the Vulgate ex- 
cepted ; but the most ancient copies of this have 
it not/' 

" It is wanting in the German translation of 
Luther, and in all the editions of it published 
during his lifetime. It is inserted in our early 
English translations, but with marks of doubt- 
fulness.^' 

" In short, it stands on no authority, sufficient 
to authenticate any part of a revelation profess- 
ing to have come from God.'' 

/Sfee, aZso, GriesbadCs Greek Testament 



CONVERSATION V. 



ON SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

James. In our last conversation, the attributes 
of the Divine Being and the Divinity of Christ, 
were discussed ; and now I feel desirous of being 
better informed respecting the Christian doctrine 
of salvation. 

Father, This is the most important subject 
jhat can possibly engage our attention ; and we 
ought each one of us to take it into serious con- 
sideration, and endeavour to know by experience 
what it is to be saved from sin. It is an indi- 
vidual work ; for '' no man can save his brother, 
nor give to God a ransom for his soul /' but we 
must all ^^work out our own salvation with fear 
and trembling.'' Phil. ii. 12. 

John. I should think this last quotation is 
not to be taken so literally as to imply that we 
can work out our own salvation without Divine 
assistance. 

(155) 



156 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

Father. Certainly not. It only means thai 
we should accept the offers of Divine grace, and 
heartily co-operate therewith : for the apostle 
says in the next verse, '^ It is God which work- 
eth in you, both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure/' After all that we can do, our salva- 
tion must be attributed to God : for although it 
cannot be done without us, it is equally certain 
that it cannot be done of ourselves. " By grace 
are ye saved, through faith, and that not of 
yourselves; it is the gift of God/' Eph. ii. 8. 

The first point to be considered in this inquiry 
is, What is salvation? I think all must acknowl- 
edge, that it is a deliverance from the guilt and 
dominion of sin ; and consequently an exemp- 
tion from the misery that is entailed upon sin, 
both here and hereafter. This view is con- 
firmed by the whole tenor of the sacred wri- 
tings; and it appears that the special object of 
Christ's mission was ^' to save his people from 
their sins/' Matt. i. 21. A man cannot -be 
truly said to be saved from his sins, while he is 
living in the daily practice of sinning. For ^' he 
that doeth righteousness is righteous ;" but " he 
that committeth sin is of the devil.*' 1 John 
iii. 7, 8. The next inquiry is, What is sin ? 
The apostle cTohn answers, " Sin is the trans- 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 157 

gression of the law/^ 1 John iii. 4. Well, 
what law is it that we are now living under ? 
It is not the law of Moses ; but the law of the 
new covenant, which is written in the heart. — 
For, ^^this is the covenant that I will make with 
the house of Israel after those days, saith the 
Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and 
write them in their hearts; and I will be to 
them a God and they shall be to me a people; 
and they shall not teach every man his neigh- 
bour, and every man his brother, saying, Know 
the Lord : for all shall know me, from the least 
to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their 
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniqui- 
ties will I remember no more.'^ Heb. viii. 10. 
Jer. xxxi. 33. It appears then, that sin is the 
transgression of this holy law : "for if our heart 
condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and 
knoweth all things '/' but "if our heart condemn 
us not, then have we confidence towards God.'' 
1 John iii. 20, 21. 

Now if we will revert to our own experience, 
we shall find that every transgression of this law 
written in the heart, is followed by condemna- 
tion and disquietude : for the Divine Author of 
our being has so constituted the human mind; 
that we never can be happy while in a state of 
14 



158 "SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

disobedience to his holy law ; therefore he says^ 
^^ Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and 
thy backslidings shall reprove thee." Jer. ii. 19. 
^' Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with 
him ; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings : 
but wo unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him ; 
for the reward of his hands shall be given him/' 
Isa. iii. 10. '' The work of righteousness shall 
be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quiet- 
ness, and assurance for ever." Isa. xxxii. 17. 
This ^' peace of God, which passeth understand- 
ing ;'' this holy joy and serenity of mind, which 
springs from " the love of God shed abroad in 
the hea?i/^ is the only thing that can fill and 
satisfy the cravings of an immortal soul, which 
pants for the joys of eternal life. How import- 
ant then is the inquiry. What is it that separates 
us from the Divine harmony, and cuts us off 
from the joys of paradise ? ^* Behold,'' says the 
prophet, "your iniquities have separated between 
you and your God, and your sins have hid hia 
face from you.*' Isa. liv. 1. If sin separates 
the soul from God, it is clear that we cannot be 
united to him while we continue to be sinful : 
for " what communion is there between light 
and darkness? — what concord between Christ 
and Belial ?'' But " thanks be to God for his 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 15S 

unspeakable gift !^' He not only sent his be- 
loved Son into the world to "save his people 
from their sins/' and to " destroy the works of 
the devil/' (1 John iii. 8,) but he still reveals 
himself to man as a Grod " nigh at hand, a very 
present help in time of trouble ;'' and it is 
" through his mercy that he save^ us, hy the 
washing of regeneration and renewing of the 
Holy Ghost/' All he requires of man is, to 
repent of his sins by turning away from them, 
and to become obedient to " the law of the spirit 
of life in Christ Jesus, which makes free from the 
law of sin and death/' This '' law of sin and 
death/' is the law which "wars in our mem- 
bers/' (Rom. vii. 23, yiii. 2,) and consists of 
" the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, 
and the pride of life, which are not of the 
Father, but of the world/' It is needful that 
the power of God should be revealed in mart, 
to overcome these spiritual enemies ; and there- 
fore his holy Word, or Spirit of truth, is sent 
to '^ convince the world of sin, of righteousness, 
and of judgment/' This is that "grace of God 
ichii'h hringeth salvation, and hath appeared 
unto all men, teaching us, that denying ungod- 
liness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, 
righteously, and god-'y in this present world." 



160 SALVATION BY CHEIST. 

He who lives in obedience to this Spirit of truth, 
or grace of God, will find a continual growth 
and increase of strength, by which he will be 
enabled to resist temptation and to work right- 
eousness; until, at length, it will become his 
study and delight to do the Father^s will, and 
glorify his name on earth. This is the Emman- 
uel state, in which God becbmes the life of the 
soul : for he is' the Alpha and the Omega, the 
beginning and the end of our salvation. " I 
am the Lord," he says, ^^ and besides me there 
is no Saviour.^' Isa. xliii. 3, 11. *^I am a 
just God and a Saviour: there is none besides 
me.'' Isa. xlv. 15, 21, xlix. 26, Ix. 16. Hos. 
xiii. 4. Therefore, unto him, '^ the only wise 
God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, domin- 
ion and power, both now and for ever/' — 
Jude 25. 

John. These views appear to be consistent 
with the scriptures, as far as they go; but it 
seems to me that a very important doctrine of 
Christianity still remains to be considered. I 
mean the doctrine of atonement. 

Father. I have been speaking of what I con- 
sider the doctrine of atonement or reconciliation. 
For it is admitted even by trinitarian writers, 
that " the doctrine of atonement, as far as re- 



4 
SALVATION BY CHRIST. 161 

lates to sin, is nothing more than the doctrine 
of reconciliation/' And indeed, in a sense 
agreeable to this, that of bringing into a state 
of concord and reconciliation, the word atone- 
ment itself had been originally used by our 
old English writers, with whom, according to 
Junius Skinner, and Johnson, it was written 
at-one-ment ; — signifying to be at-one, or to 
come to an agreement. \_See Magee on Atone- 
ment, pp. 184, 186.] 

Now, it appears to me that Grod is altogether 
unchangeable himself, and perfectly pure and 
holy ; and therefore, the sinner cannot be in a 
state of concord and reconciliation with him, 
until his sinful nature is removed by " the wash- 
ing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost.'' Thus, " putting off the old man with 
his deeds, and putting on the new man, which 
is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him 
that created him." Col. iii. 9, 10. 

John. What I mean by the doctrine of atone- 
ment, is a belief in the vicarious sufferings of 
Jesus Christ, when he suffered death without 
the gates of Jerusalem, as a suhstitute for the 
whole human race ; in order to satisfy the of- 
fended justice of God, and to render him pro- 
pitious to guilty man. Adam, and all his pos- 
14 * L 



162 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

terity, having broken the law of God, it would 
have been necessary for the whole human race 
to have suffered eternal death, in order to sat- 
isfy the infinite justice of God; but the Son of 
God offered himself as a substitute for man, and 
agreed to pay the price of our redemption, by 
taking on him a human body, and suffering the 
pains of death. 

Father. As I said on a former occasion, those 
who profess to derive their doctrines entirely 
from the scriptures, ought to be very careful to 
adhere strictly to the text. Now we find no 
such language in the scriptures, as the vicarious 
Bufferings of Jesus Christ; nor do they say that 
he died as a substitute for guilty man ; nor is 
there any language in them, from which such a 
conclusion can be fairly drawn. To punish the 
innocent, in order that the guilty may go free, 
is entirely inconsistent with the justice and 
mercy of the Divine character. " He that jus- 
tifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the 
just, even they both are abomination to the 
Lord.'' Prov. xvii. 15. It is said in the scrip- 
tures, that Christ died for all men ; but there is 
not the slightest intimation that his sufferings 
were intended to appease the wrath, or satisfy the 
justice of God. The object of his mission was 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 163 

to bear witness to the truth. " To this end was 
I born/^ said he, " and for this cause came I 
into the world, that I should bear witness unto 
the truth.'' John xviii. 37. But he could not 
bear witness to the truth, among that perverse 
and wicked generation, without exposing himself 
to sufferings and death; and he therefore laid 
down his life for the salvation of mankind — 
His death did not change the feelings nor the 
purposes of God towards mankind ; for God is 
altogether unchangeable. In him is neither 
variableness nor shadow of turning :'' and he is 
always *' kind, even to the unthankful and to 
the evil." 

The mission of Jesus Christ was itself the 
effect of God's unchanging love to man ; for all 
the good that he did, was done by the power of 
God operating through him. '^ I can of myself 
do nothing," said he ; ^^ my Father that dwelleth 
in me he doeth the works." '^ God was in 
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not 
imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath 
committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ," says 
the apostle, ^^ as though God did beseech you 
by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye re- 
conciled to Goi." 2 Cor. v. 19, 20. There is 



164 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

not a word said in the scriptures, about God 
being reconciled to man by the death of his Son; 
but it is man that must be reconciled to God ; 
for he has always loved mankind : but man 
being at enmity with him, it is in man that the 
change must be wrought, and the reconciliation 
effected. One means which the Divine Being 
has made use of, in all ages of the world, io 
change the hearts of wicked men, has been the 
patience, the resignation, and the joy with which 
his faithful servants have suffered for his cause, 
when persecuted by the wicked. It was in this 
way that Jesus Christ and his apostles bore their 
testimony to the truth, and exemplified before 
men the goodness, the purity, and the love of 
that Divine Power, whose kingdom was estab- 
lished within them. It was in this way, too, 
that the primitive Christians, though generally 
poor, illiterate, and despised among men, were 
made the instruments of convincing mankind, 
and enlarging the Redeemer's kingdom. And 
if the kingdoms of this world shall ever " be- 
come the kingdoms of God and of his Christ," 
(as I believe they will,) it must be effected by 
the holy living, the meek example, and the pa- 
tient sufferings of the faithful. I can conceive 
of no other means so well calculated to touch 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 165 

the feelings and to convince the judgment, as the 
example of one who is actuated by the love of 
God in all things, and who is willing to " lay 
down his life for the brethren/' and for the tes- 
timony of truth. 

We find that the holy living, the powerful 
preaching, and the numerous miracles of Jesus, 
made but few converts, until he '' laid down his 
life for the sheep,'' and sealed his testimony with 
his blood. It was then that many began to per- 
ceive that " his kingdom was not of this world, 
else would his servants fight." They were con- 
vinced that he had been actuated by Divine love 
in all that he did : and when the apostles, who 
were filled with the Holy Spirit, began to preach 
to the multitude, and showed them that "God 
had made that same Jesus whom they had cru- 
cified, both Lord and Christ," then " they were 
pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and 
to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, 
what shall we do ? " Acts ii. 36, 37. And " the 
same day there were added unto them about 
three thousand souls." — verse 41. 

Thus we see how the sufferings of the Mes- 
siah operated upon the people of that day, to 
reconcile them to God ; but it is the life and 
power of God that dwelt in Christ, which saves 



166 SALVATION BY CHIvIST. 

from sin : " for if when we were enemies/^ L-aya 
the apostle Paul, ^^we were reconciled to God 
by the death of his Son, much more, being re- 
conciled, we shall be saved h^ his li/e/^ Rom. 
V. 10. For ^' in him was life, and the life was 
the light of men/' John i. 4. It is this life 
of God, or " Spirit of truth" revealed in the 
soul, which purifies and saves -from sin. This 
life is sometimes spoken of as the blood ; for 
according to the Jewish law ^^ the blood is the 
life." (Levit. xvii. 11, 14,— Gen. ix. 4,— Deut. 
xii. 23.) And when Jesus told the people, 
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, 
and drink his blood, ye have no life in you;" he 
did not allude to the flesh and blood of his out- 
ward body, but to the life and power of God 
which dwelt in him, and spake through him. — 
In confirmation of this view, he said himself to 
his disciples, by way of explanation, " It is the 
Spirit which quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth 
nothing : the words that I speak unto youj 
they are spirit, and they are life." John vi. 
53, 63. 

When the apostle John saw, in the Revela- 
tions, " a great multitude which no man could 
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peo- 
ple, and tongues, who stood before the throne 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 167 

and before the Lamb, clotted with white robes, 
and palms in their hands,'' he was told, that 
these were they who had ^^ come out of great 
tribulation,'' who had *^ washed their robes and 
made them white in the blood of the Lamb." 
Rev. vii. 9, 14. Now, we tjannot suppose that 
these robes were made of earthly materials; nor 
will any one contend that the blood with which 
they were washed and made white, was the out- 
ward blood shed upon mount Calvary. They were 
spiritual garments, and the blood too was spiritual ; 
it was the life* or spirit of God which dwelt in 
Jesus ; and it is by this only that our hearts 
can be ^^ sprinkled from an evil conscience." — 
For '^ if the blood of bulls and of goats, and 
the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, 
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh ; how 
much more shall the blood of Christ, who, 
through the eternal Spirit, ofi'ered himself with- 
out spot to God, purge your conscience from 
dead works to serve the living God !" Heb. ix. 
13, 14. It appears very evident to me, that 
nothing of an outward character can purge the 
conscience, or purify the mind ; for these are 
spiritual, and require spiritual agents to act upon 
them. 

John, It appears to me that in this last quo- 



168 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

tation, the apostle alludes to the Jewish sacri* 
fices of bulls and goats, as being the types of 
that great sacrifice which Christ was to make 
of himself once for all. The sacrifice of the 
scape-goat, once in the year, on the day of sol- 
emn expiation for the sins of the whole people, 
is generally considered a striking type of the 
sacrifice of Christ, which it- was intended to 
prefigure. Two goats were brought to the door 
of the tabernacle for a sin-ofi*ering, and the high 
priest cast lots upon them, which should be sac- 
rificed to the Lord and which should be set at 
liberty. One of them was then put to death 
for a sin-oiFering for all the people, his blood 
was sprinkled upon the altar, and his body was 
burnt without the camp. The other was the 
scape-goat, on which the high-priest laid his 
hands, confessing his sins and the sins of all the 
people; he then sent him into the wilderness, 
to a place not inhabited, to be there set at lib- 
erty, and to bear the iniquities of the people. — 
The first of these goats is supposed to have been 
intended to prefigure the death of Christ; and 
the second, which was saved alive, to typify hia 
resurrection. 

Father. AVe are not informed in any part of 
the scriptures, that these goats were intended as 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 169 

types of Jesus Christ, and I can see no reason 
for such a conclusion. There are, however, sev- 
eral reasons which have convinced me that they 
had no such meaning. In the first place, the 
goat was never made use of as an emblem of 
purity or holiness; but, on the contrary, always 
as an emblem of sin ; for oui* Saviour himself 
spoke of it in this way, when he said he would 
place the sheep on his right hand, and the goats 
(that is, the wicked) on his left. 2. The Mes- 
siah is spoken of under the figure of a lamb; 
and it is not possible that he could be typified 
by two natures so entirely opposite as the lamb 
and the goat. 3. It appears to me that these 
sacrifices were figures of spiritual things, and 
that the holy men of old understood them in 
that light; for we find that the more enlightened 
they became, the less reliance they placed upon 
these outward ceremonies. 

The prophet Samuel said to Saul, "Hath the 
Lord as great delight in burnt off'erings and sac- 
rifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Be- 
hold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hear- 
ken than the fat of rams.^^ 1 Samuel xv. 22. 
The prophet Isaiah told the people that the Lord 
had no pleasure in their sacrifices, because their 
"hands wore full of blood,'' and he exhorts them, 
15 



170 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

in the name of the Most High, to put away the 
evil of their doings. — " Cease to do evil, learn 
to do well ; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed ; 
judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Con>e 
now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord ; 
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, 
they shall be as wool.'' But the language of 
Jeremiah is still more decided against placing 
any dependence upon outward sacrifices. ^^Thus 
saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel : Put 
your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat 
flesh. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor 
commanded them in the day that I brought 
them out of the land of Egypt, concerning 
burnt-offerings or sacrifices : but this thing com- 
manded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I 
will be your God, and ye shall be my people 3 
and walk in all the ways that I have com- 
manded you, that it may be well with you." — 
Jer. vii. 21-23. 

King David, when he had committed a great 
sin, exclaimed in the depth of his contrition, 
*^ Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew 
a right spirit within me. Cast me not away 
frcm thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit 
from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy sal- 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 171 

vatioL, and uphold me with thj free spirit/^ — 
*^ Thou desirest not sacrifice^ eke would I give 
it; thou delightest not in hurnt-offerings. The 
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken 
and a contrite heart j God, thou wilt not de- 
spise/' Ps. li. 10-12, 16, 17. 

It appears that whenever an animal was sac- 
rificed according to the Mosaic law, the blood 
was sprinkled upon the altar; ^^for the life of 
the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to 
you upon the altar, to make an atonement for 
the soul. Therefore, I said unto the children 
of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither 
shall any stranger that sojourneth among you 
eat blood/' Lev. xvii. 11. Now, " it is not 
possible,'' says the apostle Paul, " that the blood 
of bulls and of goats should take away sins." — 
Heb. X. 4. Therefore, the hearts of the peo- 
ple were not purified by those ofi'erings, unless 
they came to experience in themselves that 
'^ sacrifice of God, a broken and a contrite 
spirit," which these outward offerings were in- 
tended to represent. For as the blood of beasts, 
which is the life thereof, was to be sacrificed 
to God; so the carnal nature -in man, or the 
life of the flesh, must be sacrificed by being 
broken and c )ntrited before the Lord, throuo-h the 



172 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

power of his spirit. ^' They that are Christ's/' 
says the apostle Paul, " have crucified the flesh 
with its afi'ections and lusts.'' Gal. v. 24. *^Our 
old man is crucified with him, that the body of 
sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should 
not serve sin.'' Rom. vi. 6. This ^^ old man/' 
or carnal nature in man, is predominant in every 
individual when he has placed his affections upon 
earthly things, and become subject to the '^ lusts 
of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride 
of life, which are not of the Father, but of the 
world." If, then, we would be redeemed from 
these things, we must be willing to submit to 
the death of the cross ; that is, to have all our 
animal appetites, and all our selfish desires, sub- 
jected to the power of God which is revealed 
within. For the cross of Christ is the power 
of God ; and it is by this power that we must 
be ^* crucified to the world, and the world unto 
us." This "death unto sin," takes place in all 
who come to know Christ " the resurrection and 
the life." " I protest by your rejoicing," says 
the apostle, " which I have in Christ Jesus our 
Lord, I die daily." 1 Corinth, xv. 31. "I am 
crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live; yet 
not I, but Christ liveth in me." Gal. ii. 20. 
Know ye not that as many as are baptized into 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 173 

Christ, are baptized into his death. Rom. vi. 3. 
This death is not the death of the outward 
body ; for he says of Christ, " In that he died, 
he died unto sin once ] but in that he liveth, 
he liveth unto God.^' Rom. vi. 10. How did 
he die unto sin ? Was it not by suppressing or 
subduing the first motions or propensities to sin, 
as they rose in his heart ? " For we have not 
an high priest that cannot be touched with the 
feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all points 
tempted like as we are, yet without sin.'' Heb 
iv. 15. And how are we tempted? The apos- 
tle James tells us, '^ Let no man say when he is 
, tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot 
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any 
man : but every man is tempted when he is 
drawn away of his own lusts, (or desires,) and 
enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it 
bringeth forth sin ; and sin when finished, bring- 
eth forth death/' These desires and propensi- 
ties of our nature do not become sinful until 
they are perverted from their original purpose ; 
and in Jesus Christ they never did become so, 
for he kept them all in subjection to the will of 
God. They are all good when kept under th'e 
Divine government; for they are then calcula- 
ted to subserve those purposes for which they 
15* 



x74 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

were ereated. Like the animals in paradise, 
they are all at peace with man, and in obedience 
to him. And the reign of Christ is intended 
to bring us back to that state in which " the 
wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and 
the young lion, and the fatlirig together, and a 
little child shall lead them.y Isa. xi. 6. While 
man remained in paradise, in a state of inno- 
cence, he offered no animals in sacrifice to God; 
for these were only added or introduced because 
of transgression: and when Jesus Christ ap- 
peared to promulgate and exemplify the new- 
covenant dispensation, he took away the hand- 
writing of ordinances, and showed that the 
whole intention of the old law was fulfilled in 
loving God supremely, and our neighbour as 
ourselves : f^r '' on these two commandments 
hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 
xxii. 40. 

The old covenant, being an outward law, the 
vessels used in the service of the temple, and 
the priests with their garments, were purified 
by sprinkling with outward blood, ^^ which is the 
life of the flesh ; '* but the new covenant, being 
an inward law, " placed in the mind, and writ- 
ten in the heart,'' (Heb. viii. 10,) it was neces- 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 175 

sary that the soul itself should be purified with 
better oiFerings than these, — even with '^ the 
blood of the Lamb/^ which is the life or spirit 
of Christ revealed in us. 

James As the mind of man is spiritual, it 
appears very plain to me, that it cannot be washed 
or purified by any thing of an external nature. 
If " nothing that goeth into the mouth defiletJi 
the man/^ it is equally plain that nothing that 
is taken into the mouth, or applied to the body, 
can purify the man from sin. And it is equally 
impossible that any outward sacrifice could pro- 
duce a change in the Divine mind^ for we have 
abundant evidence that he is " the same yester- 
day, to-day, and forever,'^ and that he is always 
waiting to be gracious to the repenting sinner. 
His dealings with man are beautifully exempli- 
fied in the parable of the prodigal son, who had 
wandered far from his father's house, and spent 
his substance in riotous living. When he came 
to himself, and determined to go back to his 
father, confessing his sins and offering to become 
as one of the hired servants, his father did not 
stand off and order him to be punished, neither 
did he lay his punishment upon the other son 
. who had been faithful ; but his compassion was 
awakened by his penitence and the sufferings he 



176 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

had already brought upon himself, and "while 
he was yet a great way off, he ran and fell on 
his neck and kissed him/' Luke xv. 20. 

Father. The character of the parent, as rep- 
resented in this parable, answers exactly to my 
view of the Divine character, and it corresponds 
entirely with the character of Jesus Christ, who 
was filled with the Divine perfections. But the 
doctrine that God cannot, or will not forgive sins 
without a compensation, and that man not being 
able to make this compensation, it was made by 
Jesus Christ, who was appointed or given up to 
be killed fur this purpose , is so inconsistent with 
the Divine character, that I cannot reconcile it 
to my feelings ; — it appears to me to deprive 
the Deity of that infinite love which is his 
most endearing attribute : and if a human 
parent were to act upon the same principles 
towards his children, we could not justify his 
conduct. 

John. The advocates of this doctrine say, it 
was necessary that the infinite justice of God 
should be satisfied for the sin of Adam, and 
for our sins ; and they allege, that man being 
finitey could not make an infinite satisfaction. 

Father. But I cannot see how man, who is 
finite, could commit an infinite offence ; and if 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 177 

nothing less than infinite satisfaction would an- 
swer, then God must die to satisfy his own jus* 
tice ; for he is the only infinite Being. But this 
conclusion is too absurd to be for a moment ad- 
mitted.* 

John. It was only the human nature which 
was united to God, that died. It is impossible 
for the Deity to die. 

Father. If, then, it was only human nature 
that died, what becomes of the infinite satisfac- 
tion f It is clear to my mind, that when the 
sinful nature in man is slain by the power or 
word of God being raised into dominion in us, 

* On this subject, Wm. Penn writes as follows: — ' 
** I can boldly challenge any person to give me one 
scripture phrase which does approach the doctrine of 
satisfaction^ (much less the name), considering to what 
degree it is stretched : not that we do deny, but really 
confess, that Jesus Christ, in life, doctrine, and death, 
fulfilled his Father's will and offered up a most satis- 
factory sacrifice ; but not to pay God or help him (as 
otherwise being unable) to save man; and for a jus- 
tification by an imputative righteousness^ whilst not real, 
it is really an imagination, not a reality, and therefore 
rejected ; otherwise confessed and known to be justi- 
fying before God, because there is no abiding in Christ's 
love without keeping his commandments." — Sandy 
Fd undation Shaken, conclusion. 
M 



178 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

then is the Divine justice satisfied ; for there is 
nothing vindictive in the character of the Deity. 
He does not afflict his creatures for any other 
purpose than their own reformation ; and when 
that reformation is effected, he is always ready 
to pardon his repenting children. Even among 
men, the reformation of criminals is now con- 
sidered by the humane to be the main object of 
all the punishments inflicted upon them; and 
if we could be certain, in any case, that a 
thorough change of heart had been effected, it 
would be our duty to receive back the offender 
into society. But God can see the heart; and 
he not only sees it, but his spirit still strives 
with man, in order to reclaim him from the evil 
of his ways ; and we have the assurance that he 
tdkes no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but 
desires that he may return, repent, and live. — 
*'If the wicked will turn from all the sins that 
he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, 
and do that which is lawful and right, he shall 
surely live, he shall not die ; all his transgressions 
that he hath committed, they shall not be men- 
tioned unto him.'' Ezek. xviii. 21. ^' If we con- 
fess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive 
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighv 
eousness." 1 John i. 9. 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 179 

This is a very different view of Divine justice 
from that which too generally prevails in Chris- 
tendom. The doctrines of imputative sin, and 
imputative righteousness, appear to me to be 
derogatory to the Divine character; and I think 
they must have an injurious effect upon the hu- 
man mind, because they have a tendency to 
blind or obliterate all the distinctions of right 
and wrong. In the first place, this scheme^ as it 
is called, charges upon the whole human race, 
even upon little children, the guilt of Adam's 
transgression. In the second place, it transfers all 
his guilt, by imputation, to Jesus Christ, the pure 
and spotless Son of God; and what is still more 
absurd, it imputes the righteousness of Christ 
to all mankind who can believe that he died as 
their substitute. Now, I believe that God re- 
gards every human soul without respect of per- 
sons. He sees the wicked as they are, and like- 
wise the righteous; and his language still is, 
^' The righteousness of the righteous shall be 
upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked 
shall be upon him.'' Exek. xviii. 20. The 
only true ground of acceptance, is the new- 
birth : for when Christ's kingdom is estab- 
lished within us, then his righteousness be- 
comes ours ; not by imputation, but by our 



180 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

becoming really ^^ partakers of the Divinu 
nature/' 

John. There are several passages in the scrip- 
tures which appear to militate against these 
views, and to confirm those which I advanced ; 
and I cannot see how they can be explained in 
any other way. I think Christ is often spoken 
of as a sacrifice offered to God ; it is said, " he 
was once offered to bear the sins of many/' 
^^He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew 
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness 
of God in him/' " Christ also hath once suf- 
fered, the just for the unjust, that he might 
bring us to God/* The prophet Isaiah says, 
*' Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried 
our sorrows; yet did we esteem him stricken, 
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was 
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised 
for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace 
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. 
All we, like sheep, have gone astray, we have 
turned every one to his own way, and the Lord 
hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.'' — 
This language must allude to Christ, for the 
aposfie Peter quotes it and applies it to him : 
^^ Who his own self bare our sins in his own 
body on the tree/' 1 Peter ii. 24. 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 181 

Father. It is true that the death of the Mes- 
siah is often spoken of as a sacrifice ofi'ered to 
God ; but the same term is applied by the apos- 
tle Paul to his own expected martyrdom : for he 
says, "I am ready to be offered.'^ 2 Tim. iv. 6. 
And again he says, '^ If I be offered upon the 
sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and 
rejoice with you all.'' Phil. ii. 17. The same 
kind of figurative language is still used, but no 
one ever thinks of taking it literally. For in- 
stance, it may be said that many of the reform- 
er^ sacr//irW MeiV ZzVes in the cause of truth; 
and that religious liberty has been purchased 
with the blood of the martyrs. We all know 
how to understand this language, and why may 
we not conclude that the Jews used it in the 
same sense ? It is very obvious that Paul used 
it in this sense, when he spoke of himself being 
offered up as a sacrifice. 

The other passages which speak of the Mes- 
siah bearing the sins of many; being made siu 
for us; suffering for the unjust; and having 
laid on him the iniquity of all, — will admit of 
a very different interpretation from that which 
has been given to them by the advocates of a 
vicarious atonement, and one that is far more 
consistent with the Divine character. They do 
16 



182 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

not say that the sins of others were imputed to 
him, nor that he suffered, as a substitute, the 
punishment that was due to others. I take it 
that he bore the sufferings which the iniquity 
of the Jews inflicted upon him; and these suf- 
ferings were both mental and corporeal. ^^ He 
became a man of sorrows, and acquainted with 
grief.'' He was baptized into a state of deep 
sympathy and suffering for a fallen world. I 
have no doubt that the agony he endured in 
the garden, was owing to the deep sense he then 
had of the wickedness of man; for he said, 
^'My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto 
death." These spiritual sufferings appear to 
have been experienced in some degree by the 
apostles, when they afterwards became " bap- 
tized into Christ," and were '' buried with him 
by baptism into death." Rom. vi. 3, 4. For 
Paul says to the Colossians, "I now rejoice in 
my sufferings for you, and fill up that whicji is 
behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, 
for his body's sake, which is the church." Col. 
i. 24. The true ministers of the gospel must, 
at times, be baptized into the states of the peo- 
ple, in order that they may minister to their 
wants; for th;) whole church is represented as 
one body and " whether one member suffer, all 



SALVATION Bi CHRIST. 183 

the members suffer with it ; or one member be 
honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now 
ye are the body of Christ/' says the apostle, 
"and members in particular.'^ 1 Cor. xii. 26. 
They who are willing thus to suffer and to la- 
bour in the cause of truth, offer up to God an 
acceptable sacrifice, whether it be in living to 
his glory, or in dying for his cause. 

The prophecy of Isaiah (chap, liii.) which has 
been quoted, appears to have been understood 
in a figurative sense by the evangelist Matthew, 
and he has thrown much light upon the mean- 
ing of it. He says, " When the even was come, 
they brought unto him many that were possessed 
with devils; and he cast out the spirits with his 
word, and healed all that were sick: that it 
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias 
the prophet, saying. Himself took our infirm- 
ities, and hare our sicknesses/^ Matthew viii. 
16, 17. 

Now let us inquire how he took their infirmi- 
ties, and bare their sicknesses ? Assuredly, not 
by becoming himself infirm and sick, nor by 
having his health imputed to them : but he 
" cast them out by his word,'' which was the 
" power of Grod and the wisdom of God.'' And 
in like manner the same Divine word, or power 



184 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

of God, still bears our iniquities ; not by impu- 
tation, but by healing our spiritual diseases, and 
casting out every evil spirit from our minds, if 
we have faith in him and ohey his law. 

With these views, I can readily subscribe to 
all that is said of Christ in the New Testament ; 
for it appears that not only his spotless life and 
powerful preaching, but still more the sublime 
example of his sufferings, were all calculated to 
operate upon the best feelings of mankind, and 
to bring them to the knowledge of God. 

The doctrine that Jesus Christ suffered as a 
substitute for sinners, and paid the penalty of 
death that was denounced against Adam for 
transgression, is equally contrary to reason, and 
inconsistent with the scriptures. In the first 
place, it must be borne in mind, that the death 
which was denounced against Adam for trans- 
gression, was not the death of the natural 
body; or else it would have taken place agree- 
ably to the prediction of the Most High, — 
" In the day thou eatest thereof^ thou shall 
surely die." 

I have shown, in a former conversation, that 
this death did take place at the time predicted, 
and that it was a death in the soul ; for, ^' to be 
carnally minded \s death.' ^ It was a being 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 185 

^* dead in trespasses and sins /' — and it /s evi- 
dent that Jesus never did die this death, for he 
never sinried. 

That he should suffer an outward death, in 
order to take away the effects of an inward one, 
is contrary both to reason and to scripture.* 
"Shall I give my first born for my transgres- 
sion ? — the fruit of my body for the sin of my 
soul V^ Micah vi. 7. Yet the authors of this 
doctrine would take the fruit of Adam^s body, 
for the Messiah " was- made of the seed of 
David [and consequently of Adam] according to 
the flesh,'^ Kom. i. 3, and they would offer it 
up for the sin of Adam's soul ! But let us sup- 
pose for a moment, that it was the death of the 
natural^ body that was denounced against Adam 
for transgression ; did Christ's suffering in his 

* This expression has been misunderstood. The 
author does not deny that spiritual blessings to man- 
kind, have resulted from the obedience and sufferings 
of Christ, but he denies that Christ suffered as a sub- 
stitute for sinners, or that his righteousness is imputed 
to sinners. '* The righteousness of the righteous shall 
be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall 
be upon him." Ezek. xviii. 20. **He that believeth 
is born of God, and he that is born of God is justified 
by Christ alone without imputation.''^ — G. Foxf SauVs 
Errand to Damascus. 

16* 



186 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

stead prevent him from dying ? Certainly not : 
for *^ all the days that Adam Kved were nine 
hundred and thirty years, and he died.'' And 
all his posterity continue to die, notwithstanding 
the debt being paid for us, according to this 
strange doctrine of man's invention. 

James. I think that Jesus Christ is spoken 
of in the scriptures, as the " one mediator be- 
tween God and man,'' and as ^^the mediator of 
the new covenant." What are we to understand 
by these expressions ? 

Father. This question may be answered in the 
language of George Fox, who says that "None 
know Him as a mediator and a lawgiver, nor an 
offering, nor his blood that cleanseth them, but 
as they know him working in tliem." Yol. 3, 
pp. 119, 120. As God is a spirit, and the soul 
of man is spiritual, it appears evident that the 
mediator (or medium of intercourse) between 
God and man must be spiritual. 

The eternal word, or spirit of Christ revealed 
in the soul, is our advocate and our intercessor. 
For "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for 
we know not what we should pray for as we 
ought, but the spirit itself maheth intercession 
for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered; 
and h3 that searcheth the hearts knoweth what 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 187 

is the mind of the spirit, because he maketh 
intercession for the saints according to the will 
of God/' Rom. viii. 26, 27. '' As the word 
manifested in the flesh, or become man, is the 
one mediator or restorer of union between God 
and man ; so, to seeing eyes it must be evident, 
that nothing but this one mediatorial nature of 
Christ, essentially hr ought to life in our souls, 
can be our salvation through Christ Jesus. For 
that which saved and exalted that humanity in 
ichich Christ dwelt, must be the salvation of 
every human creature in the world.'' (See Law's 
Address to the Clergy, p. 51.) ^^It is the spirit, 
the body, the blood of Christ within us, that is 
our whole peace with God, our whole adoption, 
our whole redemption, our whole justification, 
our whole glorification; and this is the one 
thing said and meant by that new birth of which 
Christ saith. Except a man be born again from 
above he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
Now the true ground why all that is said of 
Christ in such a variety of expressions, hath 
only one meaning, and pointeth only to one and 
the same thing, is this : it is because the whole 
state and nature of fallen man wants only one 
thing, and that one thing is a real birth of the 
Divine nature, made living again in him as at 



188 SALVATION BY CHRIST. 

the first : and then all is done that can be done, 
by all the mysteries of the birth and whole pro- 
cess of Christ for our salvation/' 

^^All the law, the prophets, and the gospel 
are fulfilled, when there is in Christ a new crea- 
ture, having life in and from him as really as 
the branch hath its life in and from the vine." 
{Ibid. p. 47.) 

This union of the soul with God, by obedience 
to the manifestations of his spirit within us, is 
the whole sum and substance of the Christian 
religion. It was this which the blessed Messiah 
came to preach and exemplify; for the new 
covenant of which he was the minister, is not 
like the old law written upon tables of stone, but 
it is a spiritual law " placed in the mind and 
written in the heart ;*' therefore he said when 
he began to preach, " The spirit of the Lord 
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to 
preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me 
to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance 
to the captives, and recovering of sight to the 
blind, to set at liberty them that are Iruised, to 
preach the acceptable year of the Lord.'' — 
Luke iv. 18. 

How plain and practical was his preaching ! 
'' The kingdom of God," said he, " cometh not 



SALVATION BY CHRIST. 189 

with observation, for behold it is within you." 
" Except a man be born again, he cannot see 
the kingdom of God." The kingdom which he 
preached is a spiritual kingdom ; it is the do- 
minion of G-od established in the soul, bringing 
forth " righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy 
Spirit." This practical and experimental part 
of religion is the only one in which the pious 
and faithful in all ages have agreed 3 — it is the 
only part that is essential to salvation ; and the 
best evidence we can give of its possession is, 
by showing forth the fruits of righteousness in 
our life and conversation ; for the tree will be 
known by its fruit. 



CONVERSATION VI. 



BAPTISM AND THE LORD's SUPPER. 

James. Since our last conversation, I have 
been reflecting on the subjects of baptism and 
the Lord's supper, which appear to have been 
ceremonies practised in the primitive Christian 
church, and are said to have been commanded 
by Christ himself. If they have such high 
authority for their observance, I do not see how 
any of the professed followers of Christ in the 
present day can disregard them. 

Father. I am willing to state my views upon 
these subjects, and give the grounds on which 
my own convictions are founded; but I have 
seen so little good resulting from religious con- 
troversy, that I always abstain from it when pos- 
sible. During the progress of an argument on 
any religious subject, the minds of both parties 
are generally too much excited to be open to 

(191) 



192 BAPTISM ^ N D 

conviction. Changes of sentiment on these 
subjects, are generally the result of deliberation, 
and communion with the witness of truth in 
our own consciences; and it often happens that 
the conclusions formed in this manner, ahhough 
accompanied with sufficient weight of ^dence 
for the satisfaction of our own minds, cannot be 
stated to others in such a manner as to satisf}^ 
them, until they shall have passed through the 
same stages of experience. 

John. I think I can appreciate the soundness 
of this sentiment, for I know, by experience, 
that some religious truths which now appear 
very clear to my understanding, were at a former 
period the subject of much doubt ) although 1 
endeavoured to become acquainted with the 
strongest arguments that had been advanced for 
them, and felt a sincere desire to weigh them 
impartially. The subject of baptism is one on 
which my mind is not satisfied ; and being desi- 
rous of conforming to all the commands of our 
Saviour, I have long been anxious for further 
light upon it. 

Father. I have no doubt the Divine Master 
is now subjecting thee to the purifying process 
of his own baptism ; and if thou art able to 
drink of the cup that he drank of, and to be 



THE lord's supper. 193 

baptized with Ms baptism, there will be no need 
of resorting to the outward and elementary type 
of that cleansing operation which his spirit per- 
forms within us. 

James. I believe it is now agreed by most of 
those who administer water-baptism^ that it 
makes no change in the heart, but is an outward 
and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace. 
They think it was commanded by Christ, and 
intended as a badge of our profession, and a seal 
of the covenant, as circumcision was given to 
the Israelites. 

Father. I think if this were the case, we 
should find it mentioned in some of the writings 
of the New Testament ; but it is not spoken of 
as the seal of the new covenant, nor can it be 
considered as the badge of Christian profession, 
because it leaves no impression to distinguish 
tjiose who have received it from the rest of the 
world. The only seal of the new covenant is 
'^ the Holy Spirit, whereby ye are sealed unto 
the day of redemption : '^ (Eph. iv. 30) and the 
only badge of discipleship mentioned by the 
Divine Master, consists of the fruits which are 
produced by the influence of this spirit. ^' By 
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 

17 . N 



194 BAPTISM AiiB 

if ye have We one to another;'' — and ^^ Ye 
shall know them by their fruits." 

John. The command of Christ to his disciples, 
" Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost,'' is considered by most persons as 
still obligatory upon the church. 

Father. But in this text, ira/er-baptism is not 
mentioned; and it appears that the writers of 
the New Testament speak of the baptism of 
John and that of Christ, as distinct from each 
other. John said to the Jews, ^^ I indeed bap- 
tize you with water unto repentance, but he that 
Cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes 
I am not worthy to bear, he shall baptize you 
with the Holj/ Ghost atui with fire ; whose fan 
is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his 
floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but 
he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable 
fire." Matt. iii. 11, 12. It is also said- that 
when Paul came to Ephesus he found certain 
disciples, of whom he inquired, ** Have ye re- 
ceived the Holy Ghost since ye believed ? And 
they said unto him. We have not so much as 
heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And 
he said unto them, Unto what then are ye bap- 
tized? And they said. Unto John's baptism. 



THE lord's supper. 195 

Then said Paul, John baptized with the baptism 
of repentance, saying unto the people, That 
they should believe on him which should come 
after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they 
heard this, they were baptized in the name of 
the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his 
hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; 
and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 
And all the men were about twelve.'^ Acts 
xix. 2-7. 

James. It seems to me that none can baptize 
with the Holy Ghost but Christ himself: and in 
the text just quoted, it appears that these new 
converts had been baptized with John's baptism 
unto repentance, and Paul had them baptized 
again in the name of the Lord Jesus ; and after 
that he laid his hands on them, and they re- 
ceived the Holy Ghost. May we not conclude 
that Paul used water in this instance ? 

Father. I think not : for there were twelve of 
these disciples who were men; and Paul says in 
another place, that Christ had sent him not to 
baptize but to preach the gospel; and he thanked 
God that he had baptized none of them but 
Crispus and Gaius, and the household of Ste- 
phanus. 1 Cor. i. 14, 16. Although it may be 
said in one sense, that none can baptize with 



196 BAPTISM AND 

the spirit but Christ himself, the same may be 
said of preaching thfi gospel ; which no man can 
do without Divine assistance. When the gospel 
is preached " in the demonstration of the spirit 
and of power/' it has a baptizing influence; 
that is to say, it brings the hearers who are will- 
ing to receive it, under the influence of Divine 
love, and they become " baptized by on€ spirit 
into one body," and " are all made to drink into 
one spirit/' 1 Cor. xii. 13. The apostles were 
not prepared for this spiritual baptism, until they 
had waited at Jerusalem, and were endued with 
power from on high, by the descending upon 
them of the Holy Ghost. And notwithstanding 
the miracles have ceased, which accompanied 
that baptism at the dawn of the gospel day, — 
yet the reality of it is as truly experienced nowy 
by those who come under the influence of the 
spirit of Christ. . Although Paul was not sent 
forth to baptize with water, there is no doubt 
his commission was as extensive as that of the 
other disciples; for he was clothed with Divine 
love, and was made instrumental in bringing 
others under its baptizing influence. This still 
continues to be the case with true gospel minis- 
try, in proportion as the instrument Ls endowed 



THE LORD S SUPPER. 197 

with the ability which God giveth; for such 
ministry has always had a baptizing power. 

John. But although water is not mentioned 
in these texts, there is another place where it is 
mentioned by Jesus himself. He said to Nico- 
demus, '* Except a man be born of water and of 
the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
God/' John iii. 5. 

Father, It must be observed, that on this oc- 
casion he had not been speaking of baptism, but 
of the new hirth ; and he goes on to say, "That 
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which 
is born of the Spirit is spirit.^' As the expres- 
sion cannot be taken literally, it must be under- 
stood figuratively; that is, water being a purify- 
ing element, was coupled with the Spirit to de- 
scribe its efi'ects, in the same manner that fire 
was mentioned in conjunction with the Holy 
Spirit, by John the Baptist, when he said of 
Christ, " He shall baptize you with the Holy 
Ghost and with fire.'' Therefore the water 
here intended which can give a new birth, must 
be the water of the river of life, which whoso- 
ever drinketh shall never thirst. 

James. But water baptism was frequently, if 
not always, administered by the disciples, both 
before and after the crucifixion of Christ : and 
17* 



198 BAPTISM AND 

we kno\^ that Jesus himself submitted to the 
baptism of John. 

Father. This argument, if valid in favour of 
water-baptism, is equally so with regard to cir- 
cumcision, and other rituals of the Jev/ish law: 
to all of which the Messiah submitted. 

We find that when Paul went up to Jerusa- 
lem, about twenty-seven years after the ascension 
of Christ, the disciples said to him, " Thou seest, 
brother, how many thousands of Jews there are 
which believe, and they are all zealous of the 
law,** And Paul condescended to their preju- 
dices so far as to purify himself, and to enter 
with four others into the temple, '^ until an of- 
fering should be offered for every one of them/' 
It appears further, that Peter was so filled with 
Jewish prejudices, eight years after the ascen- 
sion of Christ, that it required a remarkable 
vision to convince him that he ought to go unto 
the house of Cornelius to preach the gospel ; 
and after he had done so, '^ they of the circum- 
cision contended with him, saying, Thou wentest 
in unto men uncircumcised, and didst eat with 
them/' 

I mention these circumstances to show, that 
even the apostles, as well as the other Jewish 
converts to Christianity, did not at once come 



THE lord's supper. 199 

into the spirituality of the gospel dispensation, 
but retained for a considerable time a number 
of the Jewish rites and ceremonies; and no 
doubt they adhered with equal fondness to the 
water-baptism of John. It is said of Apollos, 
that being ^^ fervent in the spirit, he 'taught 
diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only 
the baptism of John. And he began to speak 
boldly in the synagogue; whom when Aquila 
and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto 
them, and expounded unto him the word of God 
more perfectly.'' Acts xviii. 25, 26. 

John, It is said in the scriptures, that the 
disciples administered water-baptism while the 
Master was with them ; consequently we may 
suppose he did not disapprove of it. 

Father. In this passage it is stated, " When 
therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had 
heard that Jesus made and baptized more dis- 
ciples than John, (though Jesus himself bap- 
tized not, but his disciples,) he left Judea and 
departed again into Galilee." John iv. 1, etc. 
John was at that time baptizing in or near 
^non, where there was much water ; and I have 
no doubt the disciples were influenced by his 
example, and b^ that activity in religious per- 
formances which new comjerts are apt to exhibit; 



200 BAPTISM ANT) 

but it appears that Jesus himself did not engage 
in it, nor would it have been consistent with his 
mission to have taken up the baptism of John, 
which was only a type of his own spiritual bap- 
tism ; therefore, when he knew the report which 
the Pharisees had heard, he removed into an- 
other place. 

James. It is, however, asserted, that the prac- 
tice of the Christian churches, from the time of 
the apostles down to the present day, has (with 
the single exception of the Society of Friends,) 
been all in favour of water-baptism, either by 
sprinkling or immersion. 

Father. John the Baptist said of Christ, ^^ He 
must increase, but I must decrease ;" which no 
doubt alluded to the two dispensations which 
they administered : and accordingly it has 
always been found, that the more completely 
the mind is brought under the purifying and 
baptizing power of Christ, the less dependence 
is placed upon any outward rite or ceremony. 
Of this we have a remarkable example in the 
apostle Paul, who saw beyond the types and 
shadows of a former dispensation, and jK?rceived 
that the spiritual kingdom of Cluist oontaiiied 
the substance of them all. 

The service under the Mosaic law, •' stood 



THE lord's supper. 201 

only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, 
and cardinal ordinances, imposed on them until 
tJie time of reformation.^^ Heb. ix. 10. There- 
fore, this experienced apostle says, " Let no man 
judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of 
a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the 
sabbath days; which are a shadow off things to 
come ; but the body is of Christ.'^ Col. ii. 16, 
17. ^^ Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ 
from the rudiments of the world, why, as though 
living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances 
(touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are 
to perish with the using) after the command- 
ments and doctrines of men ? Which things 
have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship 
and humility, and neglecting of the body ; not 
in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.'' 
Ver. 20-23. 

Paul expressed his thankfulness that he had 
used water-baptism but in a few instances, which 
he mentioned; because he was not sent forth 
to administer this ceremony, but to preach the 
gospel, and to bring men under the baptizing 
power of the Holy Spirit. He says, there is 
" One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God 
and Father of all, who is above all, and through 
all, and in you all." Eph. iv. 5, 6. Now, if 



202 BAPTISM AND 

there be but one baptism that saves, C2.n we be 
at any loss to know which it is ? — whether the 
water-baptism of John, or the spiritual baptism 
of Christ ? 

In the infancy of the Christian church, the 
Jewish converts were nearly all '^ zealous of the 
law^' of Moses; and we have reason to believe 
that it had long been the practice, under that 
law, for the converts from heathenism to wash 
their bodies in water, as a sign of purification ; 
and this ceremony being further confirmed by 
the dispensation of John the Baptist, it was 
still retained in the infancy of the Christian 
church ; although there is no doubt that others 
besides the apostle Paul, saw that it was not 
essential to the Christian dispensation.* 

After the apostles and elders of the church 
were removed by death, those who succeeded 
them showed a great disposition to multiply 
rites and ceremonies; some of which (as his- 
torians inform us) were adopted from the Mosaic 

* In the scriptures there is no instance mentioned 
of infants being subjected to water-baptism, nor indeed 
of adults born of Christian parents. It may be in- 
ferred from 1 Cor. vii. 14, that the children of 
believing parents were considered members of the 
church. 



THE lord's supper. 203 

law, and some vrere copied from the heathen 
festivals, in order to ingratiate themselves and 
recommend their religion to the multitude. 

During the earlier ages of the church, water- 
baptism was administered by immersion, and to 
adults only ; — but in after-times, when the doc- 
trine of original sin had been introduced by the 
vain speculations of philosophers, they began 
to baptize infants, in order to wash away the sin 
supposed to be inherited from Adam ; and as 
these infants could not answer for themselves, 
godfathers and godmothers were introduced to 
answer for them, and to promise that they should 
renounce the devil and all his works. The 
sprinkling of infants and the promises of god- 
fathers and godmothers, are now considered by 
the reflecting part of the community as mere 
lifeless ceremonies, having no warrant in the 
scriptures, nor in the practice of the primitive 
church. 

It must be acknowledged, however, that the 
baptism of adults by immersion in water, was 
practised in the days of the apostles ; but it was 
not administered nor commanded by Jesus 
Christ, neither is it a part of his spiritual dis- 
pensation ; although, like circumcision and other 
Jewish ceremonies, it was permitted to continue 



204 BAPTISM AND 

for a season, and was known among the disciples 
by the name of ^'John's baptism,^' which was 
intended to decrease as that of Christ should 
increase. 

The baptism tchich saves, is spoken of by the 
apostles as an inward, spiritual washing; "not 
the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but 
the answer of a good conscience towards God, 
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ/' 1 Pet. 
iii. 21. — " Not by works of righteousness which 
we have done, but according to his mercy he 
saved us, hy the washxny of regeneration, and 
renewing of the Holy Ghost/' Titus iii. 5. 
" Christ also loved the church, and gave him- 
self for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it 
with the washing of water by the icord." Eph. 
V. 25, 26. "But ye are washed, but ye are 
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of 
the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God." 
1 Cor. vi. 11. 

I believe there are few intelligent minds in 
the present age and in our country, who will 
contend that any change is produced in the soul 
by water-baptism, or that the favour of God can 
be secured by such a ceremony. How can we 
suppose that a just and merciful Creator would 
regard witi more favour an infant whose parents 



THE lord's supper. 205 

have subjected it to this process, than ^ne that 
had died without it ? In either case, there can 
be no merit accruing to the infant ; because it 
exercises no choice in the matter, and incurs no 
responsibility thereby. If, therefore, it makes 
no difference in the case of infants, dying with- 
out baptism, it can make none with those adults 
who believe that water-baptism was not com- 
manded by Jesus Christ, nor intended to be per- 
petuated in his church. Such persons may 
safely say of water-baptism, as the apostle Paul 
said of circumcision, '^In Christ Jesus neither 
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircum- 
eision, but a new creature.^' And furthermore, 
if we see any of these persons who manifest by 
a life and conversation consistent with godliness, 
that they are servants of the Most High, and 
enjoy his favour; is not this an evidence that 
he looks only at the heart, and that outward 
ceremonies are of no avail in securing his ap- 
probation ? 

John. This reasoning will apply equally well 
to all outward ceremonies, and especially to that 
of the Lord^s supper; yet there appears to be a 
command of our Saviour for the observance of 
this ceremony, where he says, '^ This do in re- 
membrance of me.*' 
18 



206 BAPTISM AND 

Father It is true that he eat the paswvef 
with his aisciples; but there is no evidence that 
he intended it to be perpetuated in the church; 
nor is there any reason to suppose that he insti- 
tuted a new ceremony on that occasion. He 
Bent two of his disciples, saying, ^' Go into the 
city to such a man and sa}' unto him, I Vill 
keep the passover at thy house with my disci- 
ples." Now we know that the paschal lamb 
which was eaten on this occasion, was instituted 
to commemorate the salvation of the Israelites, 
when the first born of the Egyptians were slain 
by the destroying angel. 

This Iamb was also a figure of the meek and 
spotless nature of *^ Christ our passover,^' — " the 
Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
world." As in the outward passover, the bluod 
was sprinkled on the door-posts, and they eat 
standing, with their loins girded, as men prepared 
for a journey; and with the lamb they partook 
of unleavened bread : so with the antitype, the 
spiritual body and blood of Christ, which is the 
life arid power that dwelt in him, it is only those 
who partake of it that are saved by it ; and wc 
must receive it as those who are prepared for a 
journey to the promised land, and with *' the 



THE lord's SWrPER. 207 

unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 1 
Cor. V. 8. 

Previous to this memorable occasion, the Di- 
vine Master had instructed his disciples in the 
nature of that spiritual food which nourishes 
the soul unto everlasting life, saying, ^^I am the 
living bread which came down from heaven/' 
^' He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my 
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." John 
vi. 51, 56. This language offended many who 
understood it literally, — but to his disciples he 
explained it by saying, " The flesh profiteth 
nothing, it is the sj)irit that guickeneth : the 
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and 
they are life/' 

James. But may we not suppose that he in- 
tended the bread and wine which were used at 
the last supper, to be perpetuated in the church 
as symbols or figures of his flesh and blood ? for 
they are not only mentioned by the evangelists, 
but by the apostle Paul, who says, ^' I have received 
of the Lord that which also I delivered unto 
you. That the Lord Jesus, the same night in 
which he was betrayed, took bread : and when 
he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, 
Take, eat ; this is my body, which is broken for 
you : this do in remembrance of me. After the 



208 BAPTISM AND 

same manner also he took the cup, when he had 
supped, saving, This cup is the new testament 
in my blood ; this do ye as oft as ye drink it, 
in remembrance of me : for as often as ye eat 
this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth 
the Lord's death till he come." 1 Corinth 
xi. 23-26. 

Father. All the ceremonies of the Mosaic 
law were observed by Jesus Christ; for that law 
was not abrogated till after his crucifixion. The 
passover was one of these ceremonies, and had 
a more immediate reference to himself than any 
of the others. It is not surprising then that he 
should, while celebrating this feast, endeavour 
to turn the attention of his followers to the 
spiritual meaning of it, by speaking of that 
bread which comes down from heaven and nour- 
ishes the soul ; and of that wine which he would 
drink new with them in his Father's kingdom. 
He told them, as oft as they eat and drank, to 
do it in remembrance of him, and thereby they 
would show forth his death till he came. But 
did he not come to them again to rule and to 
reign in them, when, after waiting at Jerusalem, 
they were all baptized with the Holy Spirit ? 
This was the fulfilment of his promise : " I will 
not leave you comfortless, — I will come to you/' 



THE lord's supper. 209 

and " Lo I I am with you alwaj, eve.i unto 
tlie end of the world/^ This was to them the 
second appearance of Christ. And to every 
regenerated soul he still appears in spirit, and 
is that substance and life which fulfils all the 
shadows and ceremonies of the law, and sets 
free from them. 

Moses, when he gave forth the outward law, 
was exceedingly particular as to the time and 
manner in which every ceremony should be per- 
formed. He also left written directions respect- 
ing it, and instituted an order of priests and 
Levites to perform the service of the altar, and 
to explain the law to the people. 

But when Jesus Christ came to introduce the 
new covenant dispensation, he prescribed no 
outward ceremonies, nor did he institute any 
order of priests. Let us read his admirable 
sermon on the mount, which is the clearest ex- 
position we have of his doctrines, and we shall 
there find nothing that would lead us to place 
reliance upon rites or ceremonies of any kind. 
Nothing short of purity of heart and upright- 
ness of conduct, can render us acceptable with 
God. When he was about to leave his disci- 
ples, he told them ^Ho wait at Jerusalem until 
they should be endued with power from on 
18* 



210 EAI'TISM AND 

high/' '^ For Jolin truly baptized with water, 
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost 
Dot many days hence." Acts i. 5. ** I have 
many things to say unto you, but ye cannot 
bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit 
ol Truth, is come, he will guide you into all 
truth." John xvi. 12, 13. 

I therefore conclude, that as Jesus Christ 
" blotted out the hand-writing of ordinances that 
was against us, which was contrary to us, and 
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross," 
Col. ii. 14, — he did not intend to introduce in 
its stead another ceremonial religion ; but to 
lead his followers to the spiritual reality of 
communion with God. " We are of the cir- 
cision," said the apostle Paul, ^^ who worship 
God in the spirit, and have no confidence in the 
flesh." 

James. It appears from the history of the 
church, that the supper was celebrated by the 
primitive Christians, and the sacrament is still 
in use among almost every portion of the Chris- 
tian Church. 

Father. It is true that we have accounts of 
the supper being eaten by the primitive Chris- 
tians; but the ceremony now observed of eating 



THE lord's supper. 211 

a wafer and drinking of wine, is not a supper 
either as tc time or form. 

Mosheim informs us, that ^'both the Asiatic 
churches and those of Rome fasted during the 
great week, (so that was called in which Christ 
died,) and afterwards celebrated, like the Jeios, 
a sacred feast ; at which they distributed a 
paschal lamb, in memory of the holy supper.'' 
The eastern and western churches differed about 
the time and manner of observing this cere- 
mony ; and it occasioned many bitter disputes, 
and much bloodshed, after the church became 
corrupted. If the supper which Christ par- 
took of with his disciples, and which was imi- 
tated by the primitive churches, was intended 
to be observed by succeeding generations, who 
has a right^to alter its form, or to omit some of 
its most interesting features, or to substitute in 
its place another ceremony 't Yet it has been 
altered, or entirely changed, by all the reformed 
churches, with the exception of the Menonists, 
and United Brethren. 

When Jesus had celebrated the passover with 
his disciples, '' he took a towel and poured 
water into a basin, and began to wash his disci- 
ples' feet, and to wipe ti em with the towel 
wherewith he was girded. Peter saith unto 



212 BAPTISM AND 

him, Thou shalt never wasli my feet ; Jesus an- 
swered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no 
part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, 
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and 
my head. Jesus saith unto him, He that is 
washed needeth not, save to wash his feet, but 
is clean every whit; and ye. are clean but not 
all. For he knew who would betray him ; 
therefore said he. Ye are not all clean. So 
after he had washed their feet, and had taken 
his garments and was set down again, he said 
unto them. Know ye what I have done to you ? 
Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well, 
for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, 
have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash 
one another's feet; for I have given you an ex- 
ample, that ye should do as I have done to you." 
John xiii. 4-15. 

Now, this part of the ceremony is fully as 
instructive as the rest, and was even more 
explicitly enjoined upon the disciples; yet it 
is entirely omitted by nearly the whole of pro- 
fessing Christendom. Instead of washing one 
another's feet, they sprinkle a little water in 
the face, and call it baptism ; and instead of 
eating the paschal lamb in the evening, they 
partake of a wafer in the middle of the day. 



THE lord's supper. 213 

James. It appears to me, that if these cere 
monies are to be observed at all, they ought to 
be performed precisely as described in the 
scriptures ; and not only these, but the anoint- 
ing of the sick, and every other ceremony ob- 
served by the primitive Christians. We shall 
be much more excusable for considering them 
all as types, which were permitted for a season, 
but intended to be laid aside in the further pro- 
gress of the church, than to select those which 
are most agreeable to ourselves, and to neglect 
or modify the others. 

Father. There is much allowance to be 
made for the early Christians, in their fondness 
for ceremonial worship. The first converts 
were chiefly Jews, who had been accustomed 
from their infancy to the imposing rites of the 
old law, which had been enjoined upon them 
by the Most High through his servant Moses. 
Although the Messiah came to fulfil and to 
abrogate that law, we do not find any account 
in the scriptures, that he prohibited the observ- 
ance of it. But by instructing them in the 
spiritual nature of this kingdom, and directing 
their attention to the teachings of the Spirit of 
Truth, which would lead them into all truth, 
he prepared the way for them to come out from 



214 BAPTISM A N D 

their "bondage und^r the elements of the 
world/' " that thej might receive the adoption 
of sons." Gal. iv. 3, 5. 

In the spiritual appearance of Christ, which 
is the establishment of Divine power in the 
hearts of his people, all the types and shadows 
of the old law and of John's dispensation, are 
fulfilled. By this means the soul becomes 
purified and " washed in the laver of regenera- 
tion,'' " in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by 
the spirit of our God." It also feeds upon the 
hidden manna, the body and blood of Christ, 
which are the substance and the life that come 
down from heaven, and give life to the soul. 
These can say with the apostle, ^*The cup of 
blessing which we. bless, is it not the comnm- 
nion of the blood of Christ ? the bread which 
we break, is it not the communion of the body 
of Christ? for we, heiiiy manr/j arc one bread 
and one hodj/, for we are all partakers of that 
one bread." 1 Cor. x. 16, 17. This can only 
be true of those who become members of that 
spiritual body of which Christ is the head. 
For, as in the animal body, every member is 
animated with the same life, and the same 
blood circulates through every j art, and sup- 
plies nourishment to all ; so in the spiritual re- 



THE lord's supper. 215 

lation, — the members, though many, are all 
partakers of one bread and form but one hody. 
^' Behold, I stand at the door and knock/' says 
Christ : " if any man hear my voice, and open 
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup 
with him, and he with me." Kev. iii, 20. 
This is indeed the banquet of the soul, in which 
the new wine of the kingdom and the bread of 
life, are distributed to nourish the soul unto 
everlasting life. 

I believe there are those among every sect 
and denomination, who come to partake of this 
spiritual food; but many of these are so far 
influenced by education and tradition, as to 
believe it necessary for them to observe the 
typical ceremonies, which were instituted in a 
darker age, and given to a superficial people. 
May we not say to these sincere professors, as 
Paul said to the Galatians, ^^ Eeceived ye the 
spirit by the works of the law, or by the hear- 
ing of faith ? Are ye so foolish ? having be- 
gun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the 
flesh ?'^ Gal. iii. 2, 3. " Let no man, therefore, 
judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a 
holy day, 3r of the new moon, or of the Sab- 
bath days, — which are a shadow of things to 
come, but the body is of Christ." Col. ii. 16. 



216 BAPTISM AND LORD'S SUPPER. 

Let us consider whether we have not a testi- 
mony to bear against many of those outward 
rites and ceremonies, which may have been 
instituted as signs of a gospel day to come : — 
but if that day has come, or if the ^' night is far 
spent, and the day is at hand," let us prepare 
ourselves to turn away from the shadows, and 
walk in the light, that we may be *^ children 
of the light and of the day " of pure posge) 
substance. 



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